


MONSTER

by BbluePparadise16



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: Age Difference, Angst, Drama, F/F, F/M, Family, Fluff, Friendship, Happy Ending, Infected, Killing, Love, No Smut, Romance, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Survival, new life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:42:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 37,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25273360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BbluePparadise16/pseuds/BbluePparadise16
Summary: Grace Harper was known as a survivor by her community because of her skills. Everyone knew that she can survive on her own except for herself. A gruesome raid happened in her community which led to many deaths. She was the only one who lived. With no purpose in life anymore, she decided to travel as her way of mourning to the fallen community.A month later, she finds herself standing in front of a clicker, ready to get killed. But then, a man named Joel saves her from the clicker. His brother, Tommy, offers her to come with them in their community, Jackson. Completely traumatized from what had happened in her community, she gives herself one more chance to live.In Jackson, she meets a lot of people and makes friends. But is living in another community a great start? Will she be able to find the will to live once more? Is this enough to move on from the past? Or the same thing will also happen to Jackson?(A Joel Miller Fanfic)(Updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday)
Relationships: Cat & Ellie (The Last of Us), Cat/Ellie (The Last of Us), Dina & Ellie (The Last of Us), Dina & Jesse (The Last Of Us), Dina (The Last of Us) & Original Character(s), Dina/Ellie (The Last of Us), Dina/Jesse (The Last of Us), Ellie & Jesse (The Last of Us), Ellie & Joel (The Last of Us), Ellie (The Last of Us) & Original Character(s), Jesse (The Last of Us) & Original Character(s), Joel & Tommy (The Last of Us), Joel (The Last of Us) & Original Character(s), Joel (The Last of Us)/Original Female Character(s), Maria/Tommy (The Last of Us)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 106





	1. First Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everyone! I've decided to write a story to cope from the major incident in The Last of Us Part 2. I just finished it and I really like it even though I was sad and against with Ellie's decisions throughout the game.
> 
> In this story, everyone lives. Abby will still appear but she'll be dealt later on in the story (if you know what I mean hehe). And this is a Joel Miller x OC story. This is my own version of the game after inserting some characters here and there. It also has a happy ending to mend everyone's broken hearts.
> 
> Enjoy reading!

**WINTER, DECEMBER 2035**

Grace stood in the middle of the room with dead clickers and runners lying on the floor with knives on their heads. She looked down to see another knife in a puddle of blood under her feet. She picked it up as the last clicker in the room turned around after hearing the metallic sound of her knife hitting the floor. She stood up straightly while looking up at the clicker in front of her. She gripped both of her knives in her hands. 

It has been a month since the raid happened in her community. The community that accepted her and her brother with open arms. The community where they were able to live like normal people for 5 years. She was the only one who survived the raid. With her skills, everyone already expected for her to be the sole survivor. They were right. But she hoped they were wrong. She'd rather die with the people she love than to be left alone surviving in this cruel world.

She was born during the outbreak. She realized in such a young age that surviving is a must. So she got to learn how to fight in order to defend others and herself too.

In her community, she was known as the number one survivor for her skills. She doesn't have to use guns. She just used knives and threw them to the infected. She can be as sneaky as she want to surprise the enemies. Others speculated that she's able to run without making any sound because of her small feet. She thought that the reason behind it is not important. 

In short, fighting in her daily life is not that difficult for her at all.

The only problem was that she's alone this time. She had no reasons to live anymore. All of the people she knew are dead. It's just her and the cruel world.

Grace continued to stare at the clicker as she waited for it to attack her. She suddenly had the urge to touch the specific spot just below her neck on her back. But she clearly can't because she was holding two knives.

Her thoughts interrupted when she heard heavy footsteps getting closer to the room. At exactly 2 feet away behind her, she sensed 2 men had stop running.

* * *

Joel and Tommy were only supposed to check the building for a few hours to see if they can use it for patrols. It turned out that the building is filled with infected. They tried to kill every infected they see but there was just too much for them to handle on their own.

And now, they were running away from the runners. They cut into every corner they saw so that the runners will stop chasing them.

"There!" Tommy whispered loudly at his brother as he pointed at the room on the far end. Joel nodded as they run faster.

Entering the room, they stopped. There were 2 reasons on why they've stopped running. One was that they had successfully stop the runners from chasing them. And two, there was a clicker inside the room and a girl standing in front of it with her back on them and bloody knives in her hands.

Joel looked around and saw bodies of the infected lying everywhere with knives on their heads. There were at least 10 bodies. He looked up at the girl again and noticed her coat has blood everywhere. It was hard to tell if it was hers or not.

He glanced at his brother who has the same look on his face as his and probably had the same question in his head: _did she kill them all?_

The girl turned around to face them. His blood run cold as their eyes found each other. Her lips parted slightly and blood dripped from her chin, hitting her coat. There were no wounds on her face. So she's clearly not hurt.

The thing that made his blood run cold is her eyes. They had no life in them. It was obvious that she's alive and breathing normally but her eyes appeared familiar to him. Her eyes looked like they already gave up. They looked like his eyes after losing Sarah.

Usually, he would grimace on his own at the thought of his daughter. But after meeting Ellie and settling in Jackson, he finally learned to accept Sarah's death. The spark in his eyes was finally back.

For some unknown reasons, he wants to give the same thing to the girl standing in the middle of the room.

Suddenly, the metallic sound of the knife hitting the floor echoed in the room. The clicker screamed and charged towards the girl.

Joel expected the girl would react at this but she didn't. She remained in her stance with her eyes still set on him.

He gritted his teeth before pulling out the machete from his back. He charged towards the clicker and sliced its head with the machete. After a few swings, the clicker lied down on the floor just like the other infected in the room.

He turned sharply towards the girl completely who was now standing beside him. He felt rage spreading in his body as he scolded her, "Why didn't you kill it?! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

The light inside her eyes came back before blinking twice. She looked up at the angry man standing beside her with confusion.

Tommy noticed the girl's reaction so he put his hand on his brother's shoulder, "Joel, calm down." His big brother took a deep breath before backing away from the two.

Tommy smiled kindly at her, "Are you okay?" The girl only stared at him in reply. The Miller brothers thought she can't speak.

The screams of runners echoed in the hallway outside of the room as they came closer. The three noticed this.

Joel looked at the two people in the room, "We need to get out of here."

Tommy paid attention to the girl in front of him, "We have a community just near up ahead. You can come with us and stay there since storm's coming in our way."

The mysterious girl ignored him by grabbing the knife that fell on the ground earlier. Joel's blood ran cold again after seeing a new expression on her face. _Bloodthirst._

"Go." They heard a faint yet stern voice ordering them, "I'll fight them off."

Tommy walked one step closer to her, "Come with-"

She turned around to face them sharply with an angry expression, "I said leave!"

Joel noticed that the girl isn't playing hero on them. She's not telling them to leave just because she's sacrificing herself for them to leave. She's telling them to leave because she simply wants to kill the infected. It's like her sick habit and she doesn't want them to see it.

_Once again, bloodthirst._

"Come on," Joel called out Tommy who hesitantly nodded at the girl. They climbed the ledge to get out of the building.

They turned on their flashlights as they ran towards their horses. It was nighttime already. As Joel grabbed the saddle, he then remembered the girl.

He looked at his brother who was thinking the same thing. Tommy said, "We need to help her, Joel."

Both of them grabbed their shotgun and pointed it on the exit of the building as they slowly walked towards it.

* * *

With a silent grunt, Grace found herself standing outside the building. The snow breeze was hitting her body hard. _The storm was almost near._

She then heard gasps which came from the two men she met earlier. The blonde haired man sighed as the two put down their guns, "Good thing you're alive."

Grace was confused to see them in front of her. She was that she was able to give the two enough time for them to leave. Since they have horses, they should've been able to put a good amount of distance between them and the building.

"Why didn't you leave?"

The blonde haired man answered her with a friendly smile on his face, "I'm serious about our offer before. Storm's coming within a few hours. As we can tell, you have no supplies to survive the night."

Grace doesn't want to go with them but she clearly has no choice. But if they do anything that is suspicious for her, then she won't hesitate to put a knife on their throats.

"Okay."

The blonde haired man smiled again before walking back towards his horse, "I'm Tommy." He pointed at the man who was grabbing the saddle from the other horse, "That's my big brother, Joel. You'll ride on his horse." 

Grace caught Joel throwing a glare at Tommy before going up at his horse. She walked towards the black haired man and looked at the horse. This was her first time seeing someone riding a horse after a long time after all. The idea of it almost made her smile.

"Need help?" Joel asked her before she looked up at him. He was gazing down at her with an impatient look on his face.

She ignored him and went up on the horse. She found Joel still looking at her face as if he was analyzing her, "Open my backpack. Get a rag and wipe that blood off of your face."

"Later," she faintly mumbled as she adjusted on her seat. She tried to get in a comfortable position even though she has knife holsters inside her trench coat.

"Let's go!" Tommy told them as the horses started to run.

In the cold snowy evening, Grace heard the man in front of her shouting with sarcasm in it, "Hope to feel a stab sooner or later." _What a dick._

She knows Joel was trying to provoke her but it has no effect on her. She continued to grab his backpack tightly with a stern look on her face.

"Joel!" Tommy scolded his brother.

In the back of the minds of the three people, they hoped to reach Jackson with no bandits, no infected and no storm along their way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next update is on Monday: July 20, 2020
> 
> Feel free to tell me your opinions regarding this chapter and story :)


	2. The Offer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grace arrives in Jackson with Joel and Tommy safely. She meets certain people who are close to the brothers. Their true intentions surprise her.

"Where the fuck have you been?! It's past dinnertime already!" Maria yelled at Joel and Tommy after entering the house with the girl following them. She glanced at her with a surprised expression as if she appeared out nowhere before glancing at the brothers, "Who the fuck is that?"

"Maria, can we sit on the couches first? I'll explain everything," Tommy sighed as he tried to calm his wife.

The head of Jackson glared at them for a while before sitting down on one of the couch. Tommy sat down beside his wife as Joel decided to stand behind the couch.

Joel had been living in Jackson for six months yet he was still afraid of Maria. He will never forget the day when he wasn't able to look at her in the eye because she was angry at him. So he took note of not to get in Maria's bad side.

He looked over at the mysterious girl who was standing beside the closed door. He took this time to finally observe the girl who saved them earlier.

She has black hair that reaches only the top part of her shoulders. Some of the snow settled on her hair which she didn't even to bother to shake off. He noticed that she was wearing a dark blue trenhcoat that reached her knees. It was a lot bigger than her.

He looked up at her face which made him groan in annoyance. The blood was still there. He put down his backpack on the floor before opening it. He then grabbed the cleanest rag he can find.

He walked towards the door and stood on the other side of it. He leaned on the wall behind him. He gazed at the girl in the corner of his eyes, "Sit down."

He waited for her to say something but nothing came out. She only looked at him in the corner of her eyes before staring back at the married couple.

Joel sighed, "Suit yourself." He threw the rag on her face. He was expecting for her to get off guard but he was surprised when she caught it in her hand with no problem as if she was expecting it. He didn't know if he should be amazed or freaked out by this.

He watched her stare at the rag for a while before using it to wipe the blood off her face and her trenchcoat.

Joel can't help but to compare this girl to Ellie. The auburn-haired girl he traveled with for a year was wild. What he meant by wild is loud.

On the other hand, the mysterious girl is quiet. So quiet that it's hard for him to remember that she can actually speak.

He removed his gaze from him when he heard footsteps coming towards them.

Maria stood up in front of them. She looked at the girl with softened yet cautious look, "Tommy told me you saved their lives. I'm thankful for that. I'm sorry for not introducing myself earlier. My name is Maria. I'm the head of Jackson. What's your name?"

As always, the unnamed girl only stared at her in return with a blank expression.

Maria turned at Joel with confusion on her face, "Can she speak?"

He answered, "She's not much of a talker."

Maria nodded as she looked back at the girl. She was about to say something when a familiar voice broke out from the second floor of the house followed by running steps.

"Joel! Is that you? It's late! You even missed dinner! What the fuck—"

Joel's eyes widened as he saw Ellie standing by the end of the stairs. He swears to God that if only she has been born before the outbreak, she would have been a rapper because she can speak quickly.

He noticed that the silence enveloped the whole house so he decided to break it with him clearing his throat. "Ellie, we can talk in my house, 'kay? I'll just cook something then— You know what, let's just watch a movie. What do you say, kiddo?" he said to her as he walked towards her to stand up behind her. He put his hands on her shoulders and then pushed her as they walked towards the door.

"O—okay," Ellie hesitantly answered him as she stared at the unknown person in the room. He was surprised that she didn't even complain at the fact that they would be meeting the harsh snow breeze once they leave. Ellie was so surprised on the girl that she forgot the snow storm.

He opened the door for them and left Maria's house before anyone of them can even say anything.

The married couple noticed Grace tensing up as the two exited the house. Tommy slowly walked towards her, "You okay?"

Grace blinked twice before glancing at the two back and forth, "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just— It's the first time I've seen someone younger than me...alive for a long time." _Too long._ In her community, she was the youngest of them all. During her stay, they never encountered someone younger than her that is alive.

But she was actually more surprised to see the grumpy man taking care of a kid.

Tommy smiled at this because he finally found a soft spot on the girl, "Well, we do have children and families here in Jackson." He didn't expect that he would see a slight glimmer in her eyes as spoke about families. The same eyes that he only recognized for being either blank or bloodthirst.

At the thought of family, Grace can't help but to rub the spot below the back of her neck. Tommy and Maria thought this was her gesture of wanting to scratch her back.

Maria told her, "You can stay in our house for now. Take a shower and change your clothes. Then, let's talk during dinner. Come on, let me show you your room."

On their way here, the storm finally came. And despite of the harsh snow breeze blocking her view, she was still able to see that the community was huge and had a lot of houses.

And with this, she decided to follow the two for now.

* * *

Grace was finally able to eat a decent food after a month of travelling to nowhere. The hot chicken soup was suitable for the cold weather.

At first, she didn't want to eat the food. But Tommy proved it wouldn't poison her after scooping out a good amount of soup in his bowl. She watched him eat for a few minutes which was awkward for the married couple. They both know that her behavior is totally normal. They just have to prove they aren't like other sickos out there.

Tommy snapped her out of her thoughts, "You do realize that it's not cold here because of the heater, right? You should remove your trench coat."

Grace only sent him a blank look which scared Tommy a little bit before focusing on her food again.

The silence enveloped them for a few minutes before she broke it, "I'll be leaving first thing in the morning after the storm's gone."

"Where are you gonna go?" Maria asked her.

"Where my feet and knives will take me."

Her answer caused the married couple to sent a knowing look towards each other. It was clear in her answer that she has nowhere to go but she is determined to travel.

Grace looked at Tommy since she trusts him more than Maria, "You letting me to take a shower, eat dinner, and stay for a night is more than enough payment for the fact I saved you and Joel. There's no reason for you to prolong my stay nor live here unless you want something from me."

She finally said it. She was thinking about this while she was taking a shower. Deep down, she appreciated their kindness but she can't help but to sense that the two want something from her.

This was the reason why she decided to still wear the dirty trench coat. It can easily hide all of the knife holsters wrapped around her body. If this goes downhill, she can kill them right away.

Tommy sighed as he confessed the truth, "Maria and I decided earlier that you should live here in Jackson to teach some of our people how to use knives just in case of self defense."

Grace's eyes widened at this and even stopped eating to look at him. _Well, I did not expect that._

The blonde haired man turned to his right to look at her completely, "After seeing what you did back in the building, I decided that your way of fighting will be useful. And it's not like we would always see guns and ammos lying everywhere. We can't just depend ourselves to these."

Grace agreed on every word that Tommy says. She learned all of that in tbe hard way. But is this actually enough for her to stay?

She needs to think.

Maria interrupted them by saying, "There are bags in front of your door. It's filled supplies that can help you last for almost a month. If it's gone by morning, then we'll know your answer."

Grace stared at the two intently to see if they were lying or were hiding something. _They were telling the whole truth._

"If I tell you my name, then it means I'm staying."

The married couple thought this was enough. They understood that it was the closest thing on her saying, "I'll think about it."

Her hard demeanour somehow reminded Tommy of Joel during the time they were together in the first years of the outbreak. The difference was that this girl doesn't randomly kill people after getting treated well.

He took note of telling this to his big brother tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to tell me your opinions! :)


	3. The Missing Patrol Group

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grace volunteered to look for the missing patrol group in the middle of the snow storm. What is her reason behind this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for not being able to upload yesterday! But here's the new chapter! Enjoy reading!

It is really hard to sleep especially if you always have nightmares. Grace knew she is haunted by her past and she had no choice but to accept this. As much as she did not like sleeping, she slept. Only for three hours. And ever since, she stayed up, attempting to wipe the blood off of her knives by using the rag given to her by Joel. When he gave it to her earlier, she used it to wipe the blood from her face and trench coat since she told him earlier. The white rag was replaced with the dark shades of red but she still chose to use it anyways. For sure, Maria and Tommy won't appreciate seeing their bed sheets tainted by blood.

_Joel._

Grace stopped midway on cleaning her last knife before continuing. She put it inside her knife holster wrapped around her waist before grabbing the trench coat from the bed to wear it. She sighed before looking at the rag inside her right hand.

Deep inside, she appreciates the tiny gesture of Joel. He could've just forget about what he said earlier. He could've just ignore her once they got inside Jackson. But he didn't. She thought that he was only a grumpy man. But it turns out he has a soft spot on the little girl earlier.

_Could it be his daughter? No. There's no resemblance. Maybe adopted daughter? Maybe. There's a possibility for that._

Grace shook her head. _No need to be curious. I'm not gonna stay here anyways._ She looks out of the window once more. _I'll leave within 4 hours to look for a reason to live once again._

"Maria, we need to look for them right now."

"How many times do I have to tell you that we can't because of the storm, Tommy?!" Grace recognized the owner of the voices. _Someone's missing, huh._

"So you're letting their families mourn forever, is that it?"

"I can't risk losing more lives!"

Grace couldn't take their argument anymore. With a decision in her head, she left her room. Just like what Maria said last night, a bag of supplies was placed in front of her doorstep. She looked at it for a second before facing the two completely who have stopped arguing right after they heard the door opened.

"I'll go."

Maria was about to oppose her idea when Grace spoke again, "Just like what you said, you can't risk losing more lives."

She noticed that the two weren't convinced so she looked at Tommy to ask him, "Tommy, how many infected do you think I've killed back in that building?"

Tommy understood where she was getting at. But he wished she didn't have to involve him in this way. He felt his wife's gaze planted on him as he cleared his throat to answer, "Uh, about 20 at most?"

"Are you gonna tell me their location or what?" Grace eyed them both back and forth.

Tommy analyzed the look on the girl's face. It was the same look he saw back in the building when she told them to leave. _With those words, I would've thought she's being genuine and actually is willing to find them for their sake. But with that look on her face, it was different._

He and his wife sent each other a knowing look on their faces as if they were communicating. Maria broke their gaze to nod at the girl's way, "Okay. You'll go, then."

"Wait! What if something happens to you or to the group?" Tommy appreciates the fact she volunteered but he can't help but to be worried for her as well.

Grace answered right away, "I think the storm will be gone within 3-4 hrs. Once the storm's gone, you can send your men to meet us halfway. Tell them to bring extra supplies and ammo in case someone's injured or we came across a horde of infected."

The two didn't say anything and just stared at her with confusion in their faces and maybe...a bit of amazement? This was getting awkward for Grace so she cleared her throat so that they can snap out of it, "Which horse should I bring?"

"Take Joel's horse. He's fast on coping with new people so he's familiar with you," Tommy answered. Deep inside, he tried not to grin at her. He can sense Maria is doing the same thing. Little do this girl knows, her words have caught the attention of the head of the Jackson as well as her husband. Tommy wondered why Grace seemed to know what everyone should do in this type of situation. It was as if she had done it before. As if she was once an essential part of a community before.

_I'll ask her about it next time._

* * *

Grace wiped eyes with her left hand to remove the snow from her eyelashes in order to see better as Joel's horse ran fast in the snow storm as if there was no storm at all. _Just like Joel who saved her life with no hesitation._ She shook her head to remove the thought in her head. This was not the time to think about that. She needs to focus on looking for the missing 4 men.

According to the map shown to her by Tommy back in Jackson, the warehouse where the patrol went to is about an hour away from the building they were earlier. They suspect they stayed there. If they are not there, then she needs to wait for the back up for a new plan.

She felt the cold breeze hitting her body as if needles were thrown in her way. _Shit, I'm freezing! I don't want to die without making sure that the patrol group is safe._

Grace doesn't really mind dying anytime since that was the main reason why she wants to go. She thought that this was an opportunity to see if she should die to join her family in wherever they are now or if she should settle in Jackson.

_If I die here, then I die. If I don't die here, then I'll stay in Jackson and probably give myself a chance to live._

* * *

Entering the warehouse, she dismounted from the horse and tied his rope on a metal pipe attached to the wall. She patted the horse's head so that he can calm down. She removed her hand to walk inside the warehouse. There were no infected in the ground floor so far so she took this time to look up to analyze the place

Just like what Tommy have said, the warehouse has 3 floors. She had to check every room in each floor to look for them and to clear out the infected as much as possible. While exploring, she can look for supplies and ammo as well for the people in Jackson.

Exactly like what she had plan, she went inside each room in each floor. She killed all of the infected she sees. In empty rooms, she looked for supplies.

She's now looking for the last door in the 2nd floor. She realized that the runners roam a lot in each floor. She had only encounter 3 clickers. But there were no supplies nor ammo at all.

_Maybe they have all of the supplies already and just chose to stay here because of the storm._

Finally reaching the last door, she stood in front of it and listened intently to hear anything from the other side of it. She heard people speaking. She listened more. If she's correct, then there were 4 men inside.

She turned the doorknob, only to find it lock. She knocked on the door 3 times, "I'm from Jackson. I was sent by Tommy and Maria."

She listened intently once more and heard rustles due to body movement. They were near the door. Someone spoke, "That's impossible! They never sent out someone in the middle of the storm. And no one can travel in this condition."

"Well, I just did. Come on, we have to go. The storm's gone."

It took 5 solid seconds for the door to be unlocked and opened. Grace took a few steps back as each man exited the room. The 4 men glanced at her with a questioning look on their faces.

The same voice from a man who spoke to her earlier said, "We weren't able to come back to Jackson because of the storm and infected blocking their exit. We wouldn't get stuck here if only there were ammo in the warehouse. The horses also ran out when we came here." It was a man whom she assumed is in the mid thirties. He had a long blonde hair that completely covered the back of his neck.

The guy from the back end who has a bald head looked at her from head to toe, "Why do you have no gun?"

Grace answered, "Because I have knives." This answer caused the 4 men to not trust her.

The man with short black hair looked around before asking her, "Are you alone?"

This was the last straw for Grace. They don't have time for this. "Yes, I am alone. I understand why you don't trust me. So here," she unbuttoned her trench coat to unwrap the knife holsters from her body. She removed the holsters that are wrapped around her thighs, then her waist, and last by her chest. She tossed them on the ground before backing away from them as she buttoned her trench coat once again. "take all of my knives as we leave so you won't think I'll kill you. Once we reach Jackson, return them to me."

She can notice the surprise on their faces. They were surprised on how bloody her knives, hands and trench coat were. They grabbed 3 knives each and they headed towards the exit where Joel's horse was.

The only man who hasn't spoken yet who had the most gentle eyes she has ever seen in a long time held out a rag on her, "Here, use this to clean yourself."

The gentle eyes only made her remember the painful past which urged her to rub the spot on the lower end of her neck on her back. But she chose not to do it so they won't be alerted. Instead, she answered her with sarcasm in her voice, "I don't need that. I might kill you by using that rag. I mean, I've killed every infected here and on the 2nd floor." The 4 men only diverted their attention from her as they came closer to the exit. The man who offered the rag frowned in sadness and put his arm back on his side with his left hand clutching the rag.

_We should be able to meet the back up about an hour away from the building if they head out right after the storm has finished._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to tell me your opinions! :)


	4. Her Name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grace comes back to Jackson with the reported missing patrol group and the back-up men. As the news spreads throughout the community, she looks for Tommy and Maria to give her answer on their offer.

Just like what Grace predicted, the back up came about an hour after they passed by the building where she first encountered Joel and Tommy. The back up explained to the patrol group about her involvement. The 4 men then apologized to her but she just ignored them while getting her knife holsters from them. She removed her trench coat (the men told her not to do this because it was so cold but she just sent them a glare and continued on what she's doing) to wrap the holsters around her body once again.

Throughout their way back to Jackson, the men kept on telling Grace to ride on one of the horses. There were only three horses which are Joel's horse and the horses rode by the back up. There were 7 of them in total with Grace being the only woman in the group. She never talked to them on their way home and just kept on walking.

_Finally._

Grace sighed as they reached the gates of Jackson. The gates were opened and the sight inside the community made her gasp. Due to the snow storm, she didn't really get to see what the community actually looks like. She felt chills in her spine as she felt nostalgia in the scenery in front of her. People were shouting in delight and almost all of them gathered around them. _Just like my community back then._

She shook her head to get her thoughts out of her head. She quietly passed by the crowd, trying not to get any attention from them. Once she quietly did so, she took a deep breathe before continuing in her way. _I need to look for Tommy and Maria. I need to go to their house._

After walking for about a minute, Grace finally found the two standing about a few feet away from her. She had already decide on what to do with their offer. She tried to get the words out from her mouth. The two were waiting for her to speak. In the end, she gave up and simply looked down.

_I just have to tell them my answer. Why is that so hard?_

"Thank God, you're safe!" Maria said, making Grace to look at her.

Tommy looked at her from head to toe with a concerned look on his face, "You injured or anything?"

Grace looked at them back and forth with arched eyebrows before shaking her head in reply.

The blonde-haired man shifted his weight to his other foot, "Hey, uh, thanks for rescuing our men. We really do appreciate it."

And what comes after that is an awkward silence. No one was saying anything nor moving. Grace thought it was her turn to say something. She cleared her throat, "May I sleep in your house for now? I didn't get much sleep last night."

Her awkwardness caught the married couple off guard. They thought she was cool and quiet. Like she knows when to speak and when not to. Her hard exterior and awkward social skills are really reminding Tommy about his brother. He can't help but compare them in his head. Maria smiled at her, "Of course, you may.

They expected for her to walk away but she simply looked down at the snowy pile under her feet. She looked like she was thinking of something so they waited for her.

And after what seemingly about an hour of silence, she scratched the side of her neck as she hesitantly looked at them in the eye, "My name is Grace Harper."

Remembering what she told them before leaving, the married couple looked at each other with a relief look on their faces. Maria put her hands on her hip as she said, "Well, Miss Grace Harper, welcome to Jackson."

* * *

Ellie bit the last piece of her sandwich as she stood up to look outside the window. This caught the older man's attention. The sixteen year old girl told him, "Joel! Something's happening outside!"

Joel's then became cautious as he looked outside as well. There were people running towards the entrance. Something is happening, He needed to know what was happening. He called out on Ellie, "Come on, kiddo. Let's find out what's this ruckus all about."

As Joel exited Seth's Diner with Ellie trailing behind him as usual, a man stumbled onto him. He grabbed him by the shoulders to steady him. The unknown man then threw him a small smile, "Sorry, sir."

Joel removed his hands on him, "It's okay. Will you tell us what's happening on the entrance?"

"Remember the Ollie's patrol group? They were missing for about a day, man. But they're back! And they're alright!"

Joel squinted his eyes, "But that's impossible because of the storm. No one can travel with that weather. "

The unknown man excitedly smile at them, "I know, man! Word in the town is an unknown girl rescued them. But anyways, I can't stay here. I need to go to them." And there, he ran away from the pair.

Ellie and Joel were left there to think. They stared at each other with the same question in their minds: _Is it the same person from last night?_

"Joel! There you are! I've been looking for you for a while now," Tommy jogged towards them before sending a smile on the Ellie, "Hey there, Ellie!"

"Hey, Tommy," Ellie greeted back at him.

"What's going on out there, little brother?" Joel asked Tommy who smiled nervously at the girl beside him. The older brother figured what he was trying to say so he looked at her and said, "Ellie, go on with your day. Tommy and I need to talk alone."

Ellie let out a groan before crossing her arms in front of her, "Pshh, fine! But you're so telling me if it's the same woman yesterday." Joel chuckled in reply as she walked away. _Okay, Ellie._

Joel looked back at his little brother who was grinning. Tommy then told him about the rescue mission. It was true that the same girl who saved them actually went out into the snow storm all by herself to rescue the patrol group. He revealed about how she was able to kill all of the infected that are blocking their exit all by herself. Tommy's smile was suddenly gone when he told Joel about the same bloodthirst look on her face.

Joel didn't want to hear it anymore as it reminds him of his days as a hunter in the first years of outbreak. He cleared his throat and focused on the positive side of his story, "I'm not surprised if the girl has potential."

And with that, Tommy's smile was back again. "I still can't believe she survived in that snow storm, Joel. If it was me, I would be dead."

"Yeah, no shit, little brother." Joel chuckled when Tommy playfully glared at him. "So, what'cha need from me?"

"I need your help with looking for the right house for Grace Harper."

Joel sighed as he prepared himself from the worst, "Who is she?" _Don't tell me you're setting me up with a woman, Tommy. It didn't end up well last time._ Poor Esther, Ellie didn't like her one bit so she forced her to cut her ties with them as friends. Joel was thankful for that but he was hoping it would be him who will genuinely reject the woman. _As if I can be gentle on talking to anyone other than Ellie._

"Grace is the girl who saved us from last night." _Oh, so she chose to settle after all. Thank God, it ain't a set up._

Joel sighed in relief, "Why does it have to be me to choose? She has nothing like or something?"

Tommy shook his head, "Girl's all tired from the rescue and turns out she didn't sleep much at all last night. She's now staying in our house. And I speculate that you two are similar in many ways that she'll like whatever the house you'll choose."

Joel arched his eyebrows. _What the hell does that mean?_

Tommy saw his confused look which made him grin at him, "Believe me, big brother, you have no idea how similar you are with each other."

Today was Joel's day off so he got nothing to do. Normally, he would not bite in whatever Tommy is saying and just let the new resident decide on her own once she wakes up so he can continue with his day. But he was curious on what his little brother has said.

"Tell me, then. I got the whole day," Joel said as they walked in the snowy road of Jackson with people celebrating on the background with the sun shining down at the community, marking a start of a new day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to tell me your opinions! :)


	5. Tour in Jackson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grace discovers the beauty of Jackson and its people with exploration with Ellie while learning more about the young girl and Joel.

"Grace, it's dinner time. Join us in the table."

The woman hesitantly removed her knife holsters to put them on her bed. Her bloody trench coat was lying on the floor since she didn't want to stain the bed. Tommy and Maria had prove that they can be trusted so she didn't need the knives for now.

She walked out of her room, only to slowly close the door behind her after noticing the bag of supplies lying near her doorstep.

She ignored it for now to look on the the two people sitting by the dining table. She walked closer to take a seat across Maria.

There were still silence while she was getting food from the pot. It was a casserole this time. _Smells pretty good._

After eating a few spoonfuls of it, she spoke up, breaking the comfortable silence, "Hey, uh, I don't need the supplies anymore so you can have them back."

Maria smiled at her, "We're planning to give it to you for your new house."

Grace stopped eating to look at Tommy with a questioning look on her face. The blonde-haired man chuckled at her reaction, "Well, after dinner, I'll show you your new house."

The younger woman felt the end of her lips going up for a smile but she stopped them before it happened. She nodded instead on the two, "Okay."

  


* * *

  


Grace opened the curtains in the kitchen so that the sunrays can lit up her new house. She went back on the dining table to continue the list she was writing.

__

_To-do list:
  * Buy groceries
  * Ask for a job on Tommy or Maria tom
  * Try to have new clothes
_ 


She stared at it for a few minutes while trying to remember if she forgot something. Her thoughts then flew from last night.

Just like what Tommy said, he showed the new house to her. It has 2 floors. The outside was painted blue which was her favorite color.

Once again, it almost made her smile. _Almost._ But she thanked him in the most genuine way she can although she failed because she only ended up saying without emotions, "Thanks. I like it."

It made Tommy laugh which was good (I think?). He revealed that he asked Joel to choose a house for her. She mentally reminded herself then to thank Joel. Tommy also told her that she can have the whole day today to explore the community and probably to meet people.

Grace was snapped ouf of her thoughts when she heard someone knocking the door. She walked towards it. She was surprised on the person who was standing in front of her after she opened the door. It was the little girl from 2 days ago.

The auburn-haired girl waved her hand, "Hello, Miss Popular. My name's Ellie. Are you interested on going on a tour with me?"

Grace kept on staring at the little girl since it still felt surreal to see someone younger than her that is alive.

"Well, the tour is only in Jackson, of course. We can't really go out of the big gates, you know? Unless you force Tommy and Maria which can work—"

_Oh, she's talkative._

Grace spoke up, "Yeah, I'll go with you." She was about to leave when Ellie stopped her.

"Wait, wait, wait! Can't you wear something else? I like the coat but I think people won't appreciate seeing you all bloody and all."

"I don't have any clothes." Maria offered some jackets to her but she didn't like them. There weren't enough to hide the ugly scar she has on her body.

Ellie waved her off, "Let's just go to my place. You can take a shower there before changing your clothes."

Grace thought of saying that taking a shower is unnecessary since she just took a shower about an hour ago. But it might be better to take a shower to be fully refreshed on the new clothes.

She nodded at the young girl before leaving her house, not forgetting to lock the door behind her.

  


* * *

  


"Hey, Miss Popular? I didn't catch your name."

"Grace Harper."

"Grace... Yep, I never met anyone with that name."

Grace tightened the towel wrapped around her body as she glanced at the clothes on the couch. Dark blue hoodie, white long sleeves, gray tight shirt, clean undergarments, pair of black jeans and white socks. A pair of black sneakers was placed on the ground.

She wore all of them and was surprised on how perfectly fit they are to her. She put her hand on the spot below the back of her neck. She sighed in relief as she realized that her ugly scar is well hidden in the clothes.

She spotted her knife holsters on the coffee table in front of the couch. She was about to get them when she felt something was about to thrown at her.

She looked up to catch the backpack that Ellie threw at her. The younger girl then said, "You should put your weapons there. People won't appreciate you carrying weapons around. And besides, you're safe so you have nothing to worry about."

Grace decided to follow Ellie's advice since she did have a point actually. She opened the backpack and put her previous clothes in it then her weapons.

As she was placing her knives in the backpack, she noticed Ellie was staring at her. She asked, "You need something?"

Ellie stared at her with curiosity, "Do you really kill the infected by using knives only?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know how to use a gun?"

"Yeah."

"Then why aren't using guns instead?"

Grace stopped her movements before continuing a second later, "Things...happened, Ellie."

She slowly put last 3 knives in the backpack to wait for the younger girl's response. She felt bad that she let the awkward silence enveloped them.

She tried to look for anything to ask or to say to her only to come up with nothing so she barely knows her. She only knows that she and Joel are close.

With an idea in her head, she cleared her throat and looked at the younger girl who walked towards her, "Hey, is Joel around? I want to thank him for the house and all."

Ellie looked away for a second before looking back at me again, "Nope. He's out because of the patrols."

Grace nodded as she put the last knife in her backpack. Ellie went towards the door to open up for them, "Let's go!"

  


* * *

  


Ellie assumed that the tour will finish by noon or so but she was wrong. Their tour was always getting interrupted by the residents. They would always run up to Grace and thank her for saving the patrol group yesterday. They would offer her things and such.

The sun was already setting and they were just on their way on the last street in Jackson. Before entering the street, Grace looked at her right to see a cemetery.

She gripped tightly the bags of groceries in her hands as she ran towards it. She heard Ellie calling out her name but she ignored her.

Reaching the entrance of the cemetery, she put the groceries down on the stone path. She put together her hands in a praying position and closed her eyes. Her father taught her to respect the dead by doing this in front of their graves.

Grace felt like someone is crushing her heart right now after remembering her father. It has been 10 years and yet, she can't still get over his death. No one knew the whole story except for her. Not even her—

_Let's not go there._

Grace took a deep breath and focused on the graves in front of her.

Ellie finally reached her and panted before putting the bag filled with Grace's new clothes on the ground, "Fuck, you're so fast, dude."

She looked at her hands, "Uh, what's that?"

Grace opened her eyes to check what she was talking about. It was her hands. She told her, "This is another way of paying respects to the dead."

She heard Ellie hummed beside her. The younger girl hesitantly did the same thing. She clearly had no idea on what to say or to think. But she mentally told the dead, "Hope you guys are safe and happy. Please don't come back as infected."

With Ellie's closed eyes, Grace can't help but to let out a small smile. She found it adorable for her to do it and kinda reminded of herself before. _Just this once, I'll smile._

After a few seconds, Grace grabbed the bags of groceries from the ground, wiping the smile off of her face. She looked over at Ellie who was still in the same position earlier, "Come on, Ellie. Let's go home." They left the cemetery as soon as Ellie had grab the bag from the ground.

As they were walking down the last street, Grace noticed that Ellie wasn't walking beside her anymore. She turned around to see her staring at a house. Just like hers, it had 2 floors.

She walked towards the younger girl, "You know the person living there?"

"Yeah. Joel."

 _Oh._ Grace looked over at the house. attempting to see if Joel was back. When she made sure he wasn't there, she asked Ellie the question she was thinking ever since she went in her house, "Why are you not living with your father?"

Ellie's eyes widened before chuckling, "You got it all wrong, Grace. Joel's not my dad." Her face then fell, "And besides, I really want to have my own house. And I want Joel to have his own too."

Grace looked over at Ellie to observe her. She can see the pain on her face. She can't really point out the reason behind it. She doesn't really want to force it out of the young girl so she paid attention on the first thing she said instead.

The woman looked at the house to avoid seeing Ellie's pain, "But you look up on him as a father figure."

It wasn't a question nor an assumption. It was a statement and the truth. Grace saw the love between the two when she first saw them together. _At least you still have a father, Ellie._

Ellie's chuckle snapped her out of her thoughts, "You're right, though." And with that, they made their way back to Grace's house.

  


* * *

  


They finally reached Grace's house. After entering, Ellie placed the bag on her couch before heading back towards the door. She glanced at Grace who put the bags of groceries on the top of the coffee table.

"Hey, uh, Grace?" The woman looked up at her. "I think Joel will be busy for the whole week so if you need anything from him, you can tell Tommy about it since he goes out with him sometimes."

The reason why Grace wants to talk to Joel is because of the rag. She wants to give it back to him and then thank him personally. She knows she owes him those things.

But she chose to not saying anything and just tell the young girl, "Okay."

Grace suddenly remembered the backpack that she was carrying the whole time. She said to Ellie, "I'll wash these clothes and the backpack as well before returning them to you."

Ellie laughed at how serious the new woman was, "You don't have to, dude. Take those as my welcoming and thanks-for-saving-Joel's-ass gift." And with that, she headed out the door, leaving Grace with a surprised expression on her face.

For the first time, Grace heard herself laughing. It was weird to hear her laughter since it had been a month. With a smile on her face, she thought of planning to warm up with the community.

_They aren't so bad so far after all._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to tell me your opinions! :)


	6. Job and Invitation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The job that was given to Grace surprised her. The people who volunteered to be taught by her were amazed at her. On the other hand, her dark thoughts were inside her head once again.

Grace followed Maria on their way to the northern right corner of Jackson. They stopped in front of a wooden fence. The head of Jackson looked at her and said, "This is the place where you train our people. They are already inside. They also volunteered."

They walked inside and the first thing that Grace lied her eyes on made her sigh. The people who volunteered are the 4 men she saved 2 days ago.

She heard Maria talk beside her before leaving her alone, "If you have any questions, just go in my house."

Grace felt the tension and awkwardness in the air. She can't help but frown. The blonde haired man whom she assumed the oldest in the group walked in front of her, "We are truly sorry for being rude back then."

She sighed but this time it was for herself because she was the one who should be talking first, "I'm sorry too for being rude. I didn't mean to talk back in that way."

When no one said anything, she continued, "I'm Grace Harper, by the way."

"I'm Ollie," the blonde haired man said. He pointed on the bald man, "That's Luca."

Luca nodded at her before looking away again. She noticed that he was trying to have the bad guy image while being apologetic at the same time. She knew he was having a hard time.

Ollie pointed on the short black haired man who had an emotionless look on his face as he stared at her, "That's Raven."

Grace looked on the guy standing beside Raven. It was the guy who offered her a rag last time. Ollie introduced him, "And that fella is my son, Kotaro."

Just like his father, Kotaro smiled kindly at her. This made her question if Kotaro even knew he was living in an post-apocalyptic world. _He's too gentle._

Ollie raised his hands as he looked around, "So, this is the training area. This was supposed to be some sort of a garden but they kinda forget about it." He pointed on the table by the entrance where the knives were placed, "Maria said we can use all of those knives as long as we return them by the end of the day."

Grace silently walked towards it and observed each knife. She asked the group, "Why do you want to learn how to fight using knives?"

The group looked at each other for a second before Luca spoke up, "We want to avoid ending up stuck like last time."

The woman looked back on the knives again, deep in thought. She had never taught anyone before because it was her who was being taught in her old community.

Long before she and her older brother found the community, he protected them. Throughout those years, she was fascinated on how skillfully her brother was when it comes on knives. So she kept on thinking of asking him one day to teach her.

When they had finally settle down in the community, she asked him to teach her. It took 3 years for her to get used with knives.

"Who taught you how to fight using knives?"

Grace froze in her spot after snapping out of her thoughts. The group noticed how her body tensed up after hearing Kotaro's question.

She looked at them and saw Luca glaring at Kotaro who was looking on the ground with guilt on his face. Ollie let out a nervous laugh, "You don't have to answer him, Grace."

Kotaro finally looked at her in the eye, "I'm so sorry, Grace."

She can't help but feel bad once again for the youngest guy in the group. She turned around to face them completely, "I'm...sorry for not answering you. But I promise to tell you next time."

She had no idea when that 'next time' would be. _Probably never._

"Anyways," she cleared her throat. "With knives, you can use them to stab, swing or throw. All of you are familiar with stabbing already so we'll skip that. You can grab one knife on the table. Pick something that you're most comfortable with."

The group obeyed her. After about a minute or two, they faced her with knife in their hand. Grace then spoke up, "We'll try other knives next time so your hands can quickly learn to adapt on the different sizes of their handles and their weight as well."

She positioned herself farther away from them and pulled out the knife from her knife holster, "I'll show you how to swing in different directions."

The four men were amazed on the new woman. She was incredibly skillful. She looked so confident on teaching them.

Ollie mentally smiled at himself, thinking that if Grace was born before the outbreak, she would've been a great professor.

Luca cursed a lot under his breath as he tried to imitate her movements. He thought it was easy to use knives. He can't help but look up on the woman in front of him as someone who was more skillful than him. But of course, he can't accept that so he worked hard on imitating her.

Raven was the fastest learner among them. He was also silent and always focused on her movements. Looking at his bald friend beside him, he tried not to laugh after hearing him curse under his breath for what seemed like the 100th time.

Kotaro, on the other hand, was trapped in his own world. He can still follow Grace. But his mind would always drift far. He was sure he was having a crush on the woman. She looked like an unsolved puzzle for him that he wants to fix. He took note of keeping up on Grace as much as possible so they can be friends. He shook his head again to snap out of his thoughts.

Grace had no idea of what the men were thinking while she was teaching nor she cared. As long as they learn something, then that's fine.

  


* * *

  


One week has passed and Grace became closer with the group. Every day, they would always meet in the training area after lunch.

She was amazed with their progress. They made a quite big of a progress compared to her back then.

Four days ago, she went in the training area just like always. But she became surprise when she arrived there. There were wood stand everywhere. Just a log that was secured in the ground scatteted everywhere.

She saw Ollie, Luca, Raven and Kotaro leaning their backs on the wood fences with sweat all over their face.

Kotaro, who miraculously had the energy to speak up, told her that she spoke about throwing knives so they thought of putting up wood stands for it since they want to see her doing it.

This almost made Grace smile. She never requested for anything but she'll admit that she thought of this many times. Her hands were itching on throwing knives on the infected. And now that there were wood stands, she can finally throw knives. So she showed them how she did it.

Grace looked up in the sky and saw that it was pitch black already. Usually, Ollie, Luca, Raven and Kotaro will escort her to her house after training (even though she didn't want to) to accompany her.

She heard Luca calling her name from the entrance, "Hey, Grace! Are you coming or what?"

She shook her head, "I'm not coming this time."

Ollie raised his eyebrow in question but removed it to put a smile on his face, "Okay. But there's a barbecue party tomorrow night in Seth's Diner. You should go."

She nodded before watching them leave, catching Kotaro waving at her. Of course, she didn't wave back.

When she was assured that she was left alone, she grabbed the knives from the table and scattered them all over the area. She walked towards the entrance before taking a deep breath. After facing the training area once again, she let out an exhale and ran.

She grabbed the knives and threw them on each log she can see. With the last knife landing on a log behind her, she heard someone clapping by the entrance.

She looked over to see Maria who proceeded on walking towards her. "I wasn't expecting for you to be this good."

Grace looked around to see each knife landed on the middle part of the log. She looked on her hands before shoving them in her pockets. Even after throwing the knives, her hands were still shaking. They were shaking because she still felt the urge of killing a horde of infected.

It was sick of her to think in that way because no one wants to experience killing a horde of infected. No one even wants to experience killing anyone or anything in the first place anyways.

But a month of travelling alone with dark thoughts and just killing every infected that she can find made her think in this way.

She knew deep down that she had to go outside sooner or later. She took note of asking Maria about letting her out of the community without making her think she was a monster (even though it was crystal clear that she is a monster).

She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard Maria spoke up, "There will be a party tomorrow night. Lots of men are challenging each other in a cook off to see who's the greatest chef."

"Ollie already told me about it."

The older woman nodded, "You should go. Oh, and Ellie wants to let you know that she'll drop by your house tomorrow so that both of you can go to the party together."

Grace was about to ask about Joel when Maria had seemingly read her mind. "Joel volunteered to help on preparing since he and Tommy have experience on having a barbecue party. Ellie wasn't able to tell you all of this because she's busy."

"Okay." There was a moment of silence between them so she spoke up again, "Is that the only reason why you're here?"

Maria laughed at her, "No. I want you to tell me about your stay in Jackson so far on our way home. Tommy and I had been wanting to talk to you honestly but we can't because he's always out of the community."

Grace appreciated their kindness deep inside which almost made her smile. _Damn, these people in Jackson kept on making me smile._

She knew that sooner or later, her barriers would be destroyed and she'll finally show them her smile.

Grace noticed she didn't say anything to the head of Jackson at first so she spoke up, "I understand. You two are practically the leaders of the community after all. And sure, I'll talk to you after I clean up."

Sending her a smile, Maria helped her on taking out the knives from the logs. Grace was sure that she said she'll be the one to clean up and not Maria. She simply shrugged and let the strong female leader of Jackson do her own thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to tell me your opinions!! :)


	7. The Barbecue Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grace goes to the barbecue party with Ellie wherein she meets new people. She finds out more about them, making her feel comfortable for the first time.

Grace and Ellie entered inside Seth's Diner. The older woman was fascinated with the place.

Now that the place was rearranged, it appeared bigger than before. The room was divided into four sections. On the left side starting from the entrance, picnic tables were placed. Seth was seen serving drinks by the bar on their right side with some people sitting on the stools. Men can be seen grilling various meats a few feet away from the counter. And there was a stage on the left side of the entrance.

The place was lit up, making it appear more friendly and happier. As if there weren't leaving in a post-apocalyptic world. It was a nice break from all of the tension outside the community.

This wasn't Grace's first time seeing a party. Back in her community, they would also have an annual party that always happen in the first day of spring. She loved it, too. But the party here in Jackson appeared more friendly because there were children.

"Grace, come here!" Ellie called out on her, standing beside on of the picnic tables. Grace walked towards her and noticed the people sitting on the picnic table.

Ellie turned around to look at them and pointed the woman beside her, "Guys, this is Grace. She's the new person in Jackson. Grace, these are my friends. Cat, Dina and Jesse."

She sat in between Dina and Jesse while Ellie sat beside Cat. The first one to speak up was Cat, "Hey, Grace. I just want to say that you're so amazing for what you did last week." The oldest woman in the group offered her an awkward smile.

Dina was the next one to speak up, "How are you doing in Jackson?"

Grace thought of an answer that won't come up as one word only, "Good. I teach Ollie's group for about a week now." The youngsters smiled at this. The tension in her voice was evident but they appreciated that she tried her best.

"You should join me in the patrols, Grace. All people who are 18 years old and above are allowed," Jesse clasped his hands on top of the table, making them look at him.

Grace became interested on what he had said so she asked, "How does this patrol system works?"

Ellie cleared her throat, "Well, certain people go out in groups or in pairs to head to certain areas surrounding Jackson to clear the infected and all. They can gather supples, too."

Grace asked her, "You go to the patrols?"

Ellie rolled her eyes, "Man, I wish."

Cat laughed beside her, "Ellie can't because she's only 16."

The youngest person in the group continued to sulk in her seat, making them laugh. Grace allowed herself to laugh at this point. She didn't feel the urge to stop herself at that time.

After talking for a while, they went by the grill to grab some food then went back on their table once again to eat and to talk again. Grace found out more information about them. Ellie is the youngest, followed by Cat who is about a year older than her. Then followed by Dina who is 18 years old. Grace asked if she was a part of the patrol but she revealed that she wasn't. Jesse has the same age as Grace which surprised her.

Grace felt the tension go away as she laughed more with the group. She once again experienced what it means to have friends after a month of living in the darkness after the raid happened.

After the laugh died down, Jesse put his hand on Grace's shoulder, "Okay, new girl, I got a question for you. Do you know how to play chess?"

Grace looked at him questionably while the other 3 groaned in protest. Ellie glared at the guy, "Come on, are you serious? Did you bring your chessboard again?"

Jesse wiggled his eyebrows before opening his backpack. He pulled out the chessboard and put it in front of him on the table, "Ta-da!"

Grace let out a forced chuckle, "Yes, I do know how." She suddenly remembered her brother, making her sad. But she didn't acknowledge the thought for now.

Jesse began to open his chessboard, "Oh really? Then I challenge all of you on a chess duel!"

At first, the other 3 girls protested but eventually gave in since Jesse kept on insisting and couldn't shut his mouth. The group eventually forgot to get more food. Other people were starting to gather around them but they went away right away after realizing it was another one of Jesse's shenanigans.

Grace was in the first place after beating all of them followed by Jesse, then Dina, then Cat, and Ellie in the last place.

Ellie groaned loudly, "I hate chess! Why do people play this anyway?"

Jesse ruffled her hair, "Hah! You're just complaining because you kept on losing."

Grace watched them throw banters at each other once again with a smile on her face.

"Grace! Grace!"

She turned around to look for the owner of the voice. It was Kotaro along with the rest of his group.

She excused herself to Ellie's group before heading towards Ollie's group.

Ollie smiled at her as she sat in between Raven and Kotaro, "Welcome to your very first party in Jackson! I'm glad to see you here."

Grace smiled at him who caught him off-guard but he gathered himself once again.

Luca, who was sitting in front of her, spoke up, "Hey, congratulations on finally having your circle of friends."

Grace looked back at Ellie's group and caught them stealing glances at them every now and then. She turned around to face the men surrounding her before chuckling, "They are actually cool, you know." They hummed in agreement.

"Amen to that. Coolest youngsters I've ever met," Luca said before putting a sliced piece of meat in his mouth.

Grace decided to be open to the group since she was feeling like she was in the mood tonight. It was as if she was her old self once again. "How are you guys doing?"

The four men looked at her in surprise because she never asked them about their lives. The questions she usually ask them were only related in their training.

Ollie was the first one to break the silence, "I'll be cooking later by the grills so I'm here eating as many as I can since I doubt I'll be able to eat again later."

Luca smirked at her before running his hand on his head, "I'm trying to subtly show off my shiny head." Grace thought it was stupid but decided not to say anything. She didn't want to kill the mood.

Kotaro rubbed his neck as he let out a nervous chuckle, "Well, I uh..."

Grace noticed that the others had an idea of what he was about to say since they were avoiding their gazes. She looked at the nervous man beside him.

"I sneaked in the training area earlier to try throwing knives."

Grace frowned, "But I told you that there's no training today, right?"

Kotaro nodded, looking down on his empty plate, "Sorry..."

Grace grabbed his hands, making Kotaro look at her. She inspected them for cuts and injuries.

Ollie then spoke up, "I went to the training earlier since Maria told me to get the knives. I saw him throwing knives so I stopped him. Don't worry, I already patched him up."

Grace knows Kotaro has been wanting to learn how to throw knives. But she kept on telling him that he can't since it was hard. She knew that she had to teach him some day if he was this determined to learn.

She let go of his hands, "Tell me next time if you'll go to the training area to try it, okay?"

She noticed that there was a slight blush on Kotaro's cheek, "Y-yeah. Sorry again."

There was a sudden thud on their table, making them look at Luca. "Okay, that's it. I've had enough."

He glared at Raven who was sipping in his drink, "Why are you so quiet tonight, Raven?"

The silent man defended himself, "I'm always quiet, Luca."

"You can't lie to me. We've been fighting together for 10 years. I know that look on your face."

Before Grace was able to stop herself, she asked, "What happened?"

Ollie glanced at his friends before answering her question, "Raven likes this woman named Esther."

Kotaro gestured for Grace to look on the grilling section, "You see the woman with long blonde hair by the grill? That's Esther."

Grace nodded as she observed Ester laughing with the other children. _She is beautiful._

She looked back on Raven as silence enveloped them. She decided to break it by asking, "I guess you're too shy to talk to her?"

Raven looked at her in the corner of his eyes before looking back at his friend in front of him.

Luca leaned in and spoke in a nicer tone, "Come on, man. Her crush on Joel is gone since last year. He practically rejected her after Ellie shouted at her. And besides, everyone saw it coming since Tommy was the one who paired tnem up."

_Wait, Esther had a crush on Joel? And Tommy is the matchmaker?_

Grace shook her head to remove the thoughts as she pressed on the topic about Ellie, "Why would Ellie shout at Esther?"

Ollie laughed, "Ellie was 'defending' Joel." He leaned in closer to whisper, "That's what the girl said, not me." Grace laughed since it really does sound like Ellie.

Raven sighed, "What should I do then?"

Grace noticed he was asking her directly. Back in her community, she was used on seeing people falling in love with each other. It never happened on her but she had ideas.

Grace cleared her throat, "You should talk to her since we can die anytime so might as well do everything you want."

They looked at her weirdly except for Raven. Luca groaned slightly, "That's harsh, man."

Grace was about to apologize when Raven smiled at her for the first time, "I like how realistic you are." He took a deep breath before looking at everyone, "I'm ready." With that, he stood up and walked towards Esther.

Luca grinned at this as he clapped his hands, "My God, finally! "

In just a few minutes, they saw Raven and Esther laughing. Luca whistled, "Damn, I know Esther has a great sense of humor. But Raven? Over my dead body, guys."

Ollie and Grace laughed at this while Kotaro disagreed with him, "You're too harsh, Luca." The bald man shrugged his shoulders as he emptied his drink.

Grace put her hand inside the pocket of her hoodie. She felt something in her hand. It was Joel's rag. She asked them, "Have you seen Joel? I need to talk to him."

Luca froze in his spot, "You're not going to talk to him about Esther, right?"

"What? No! Of course not." Luca nodded at her.

Ollie answered her, "He just arrived about an hour ago."

Kotaro pointed on the counter, "Joel's been drinking there for a while now. You need something from him?"

She stood up, "No. I just have to return something to him. See you." She then walked away to head to the bar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to tell me your opinions!! :)


	8. A Warm Welcome

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grace talked to more people in the party.

Grace had her eyes set on Joel who was drinking as she walked towards him. She successfully avoided bumping to people who were walking.

Joel looked up from his drink as he felt a pair of eyes trained on him. Grace froze in her spot as their eyes came in contact. She mentally punched herself after realizing that she was being a creep because she kept on staring at him.

She was about to say something offensive to him after seeing him smirking at her way when two familiar voices called out her name, "Grace!"

She looked at her right side and saw Maria and Tommy sitting on a picnic table. She sent a playful glare at Joel who chuckled before heading towards the two.

"Hey, Maria and Tommy," Grace greeted as she sat down in front of them.

"Hello, Grace," Maria greeted back as Tommy sent her a wave. Grace noticed this was out of his character so she checked if he was okay. Turns out he was more than okay. He was drunk.

She looked down on the table, only to see 10 plates with different colors with a piece of meat on top of each plate, "Uh, I didn't know you're this hungry."

Tommy chuckled at her as he waved his index finger around, "Oh no, Grace. We won't eat those." He pointed at her, "These are all for you!" Maria cringed beside him as she listened to him.

Grace arched her eyebrows, unsure of what to say, "Thanks, I guess?"

Tommy smiled with all of his teeth showing, "I want you to eat all of these and choose which meat is the best."

"Like a blind taste test?"

"Yeah!"

Maria butted in, "Grace, I'm really sorry for this. Men have a lot of pride." Grace nodded at her understandingly. _Trust me, Maria. I really get that. I lived in a community once filled mostly with older men after all._

"You'll be the witness of the test, Maria." Tommy put his hand on her shoulder. Maria slapped it which made him withdrew his hand back.

The last time Grace ate was about two hours ago which was before she played chess with Ellie's group. She can probably eat them and be full.

In the middle of taste testing, she suddenly remembered Jesse's invitation earlier. She looked at the two people in front of her, "I would like to join the patrol. Jesse invited me earlier."

Tommy sent her a grin and a thumbs-up, "You're hired."

Maria playfully glared at him, "That's not how we do things here, Tommy."

The blonde-haired man hummed in delight before wiggling his eyebrows at her, "Is my wife mad at me right now?" Grace tensed up at this.

The head of Jackson stifled her laugh and hid it by rolling her eyes. She looked at the woman sitting in front of them, "I'm really, really sorry, Grace. But we still have to think about it, okay?"

Grace quickly answered, "Yeah, I understand. I've been living here for about a week only." Maria smiled at her, appreciating the fact that she understands them.

Grace put down her fork, "Wife?"

"What?"

"I didn't know you're a married couple."

The two people looked at each other before laughing. Maria spoke up, "Oh, we thought it was obvious already?"

"I think you're just dense." Tommy held up his index finger as if gesturing to pay attention to him. "Here, I'll prove how much I love her."

He was about to kiss Maria when she put her hand on his face to block him from kissing her while staring at her, "Grace, just finish the taste test please."

Grace nodded as she took another bite, "Oh, by the way Tommy, you're disgusting." The married coue were caught off-guard at this.

Tommy drunkenly glared at her, "Maria, can you believe this girl?"

"I do and I am siding with her." Grace smiled appreciatively at the head of Jackson as if sending a silent message.

Not for long, Grace finished eating each meat. She pointed at the green plate, "This one is in for me."

Tommy suddenly pumped his fists in the air which caught some people's attention. He then looked around with a brightest smile on his face, "Told ya'll! Texas barbecue are the best, suckers!"

Because of his exaggerating movements, he fell on his seat. His back was about to hit the ground when someone grabbed him by the collar.

Tommy looked up and gasped, "Big brother!"

"Tommy," Joel greeted back before putting him down on his seat.

The younger brother pointed at Grace, "Joel! She said our barbecue is the best!"

Maria interrupted him, "Grace didn't actually say it's the best—"

Tommy suddenly cupped her cheek with his hand before cooing her, "Maria, I love you but you have to be honest that—"

"Okay," Joel interruped the married couple with a sigh. "Maria, he's drunk."

"I know, Joel. I know."

The older brother looked at Grace, "You wouldn't mind me saving you from my drunk baby brother, right?"

Grace was smirking for the entire time as she watched them. She looked up at him and shrugged, "Not at all even though I really want to see what can your brother do while he's drunk."

Joel smirked at her, "Not the nicest things, I would say. Come on." Grace stood up and followed him as they headed towards the bar.

  


* * *

  


They sat on the stools on the middle part of the bar. Joel called out for Seth, "Hey, Seth. Can you bring the shake here?"

"Yeah sure." Seth grabbed a cup from the counter inside the bar and put it in front of Grace.

The woman stared at it before looking at the two, "What's this?"

Joel cleared his throat, "Mango shake. I've been watching you since you sat with Tommy and Maria. And seeing all the meat, I thought you'll appreciate drinking something refreshing after."

She arched her eyebrow, "You didn't look like a stalker to me."

He chuckled, "I'm not. But after seeing Tommy's hell state, I thought I should watch over you. He can be full of surprises when he's drunk."

"No shit." Grace then drank the mango shake in one go. Her mouth was dry like a desert and filled with different smoky flavors. The refreshing sweet mango shake was a good wiper of all of the flavors in her mouth.

Joel watched her for a while now with an amusing look on his face, "Brain freeze?"

She opened her eyes and looked at him, "Nope. I was expecting for it though."

Seth whistled, "Damn, I put 10 ice cubes in that!"

She smirked at him as he retrieved the cup, "Not strong enough, I guess."

"Noted." He then went to the other people to attend them with their drinks.

She looked at Joel who was completely facing her with his one arm resting on top of the counter. "How ya feeling?"

"Dashing." Joel laughed at this. He wasn't expecting that this was the same woman who killed all of the infected. If someone told him that Grace can make him laugh, he would tell them to throw themselves into a horde of infected.

He watched her face transitioned from a smirk to a nervous look as she put her hand in her pocket. She then pulled out a clean rag, "I believe this is yours."

Joel hesitantly grabbed it out of her hands before realizing that this was the rag he gave to her last time. "You didn't have to return it to me, you know? But I don't mind." He then put it inside the pocket of his jacket.

He looked at the girl in front of him who mimicked the way he was positioned. He can tell she was nervous.

Joel wasn't really planning to spend the night with anyone. He would most likely spend it with Ellie but she has friends. And besides, he arrived late in the party because of the patrol.

For almost two years of staying in Jackson, he didn't really make friends a lot. Aside from Ellie, Maria and Tommy, the closest thing to friends he can consider were the people included in the patrol. He got really no choice since he was with them most of the time.

He was amazed on how fast Grace can make friends. He was doing a greater job in that department compared to him. In just a week, she was able to get in the good side of Maria and Tommy, and befriend Ellie's and Ollie's group.

For someone who was a beast-looking fighter in front of the infected, she was really friendly. He knew that Grace hasn't realized it yet but she was getting to his good side too.

And for Joel, as long as you are in the okay book of Ellie, then he's okay with you, too.

He got snapped out of his thoughts when Grace finally spoke up, "I would like to thank you for killing the clicker back in the building." _Ah, the one who almost got you._

Her next words didn't really faze Joel but it somehow sent chills in his spine, "I was trying to get myself killed that time."

"I used to have a family and a community, you know? A brother who—"

Joel interrupted her with the most gentle tone he can let out, "Grace, you don't need to tell me this for now."

"I know, I know. But I insist."

He can see the desperation in her eyes. He can see the pain she was hiding for a long time now. He can see that she wants someone to listen to her.

"Okay, then. Go on." He decided to listen to her.

Grace took a deep breath before sighing, "My brother and I lived in a community for 5 years. Just like Jackson, the residents were good even though they were mostly older men. There were no children younger than me but I was still happy. I also learned a lot of things there about surviving. The community became a safe haven for me."

When she had stop speaking, Joel observed her as she looked away. He can still see the desperation so he encouraged her, "What happened?"

Grace looked at him with pain in her eyes followed by a sad smile, "A raid happened about a month before you met me. Everyone died except for me."

Joel frowned at this as he felt a pang in his chest. It was now clear on what she was doing in the building when they found her. Everything was clear.

He glanced at her who had her eyes trained in the counter. It was like Joel was staring at a mirror. A broken one. Tommy was right. He and Grace have so many similarities. It was scary.

He found himself staring at the broken watch wrapped around his left wrist. He trailed his thumb on it as he found himself saying, "My daughter, Sarah, gave me this in my birthday."

He waited for Grace to stop him just like what he did to her earlier. But she didn't stop him. She was silent as if she was saying that it depends on him if he should continue or not.

He decided to continue, "A few hours after my birthday, the outbreak happened. Tommy got me and her out with his car. But we got in a wreck so we have to go on foot. I got a couple of cuts and my daughter hurt her leg. She couldn't walk so I carried her as Tommy protected us with his gun."

"Joel—"

"We were once almost trapped with the horde of infected so Tommy volunteered to be left behind." He cut her off, still staring at the broken watch. "Sarah and I eventually stumbled upon a soldier. I told him we weren't infected and we needed help. But he was ordered to shoot us. So he did."

Joel heard Grace gasped slightly under her breath, "I tried to protect her. But when I looked at her after we rolled down on a small cliff, she was shot. There was no way of saving her. Sarah died, Grace."

Joel finally glanced at Grace who was deeply saddened at his past. She then said, "I'm really sorry, Joel."

He found himself nodding at her with no words coming out of his mouth. He was surprised on how he easily revealed his tragic past to a person whom he just met two weeks ago. But it was probably his way of saying, "It's alright to not forget about your past and to be sad about it. But don't forget to live even though this world kept on pulling you down with it."

After a few minutes of silence, Grace asked him, "How are you able to live your life after that and now in here?"

Joel knew in himself that living after the death of his daughter wasn't good. He closed himself from everyone including his brother. He became a hunter and a smuggler. He decided not to tell Grace about Tess and how he actually changed in just a year.

He turned around to look at the auburn-haired girl cursing at her friends on one of the picnic tables. Ellie caught his gaze and waved at him. He gave her a little wave as she went back cursing at her friends, probably bullying Jesse again. He caught Grace witnessing their exchange in the corner of his eyes.

"No matter what, you keep finding something to fight for."

"Okay. I'll keep that in mind." He finally looked at the girl beside him. He saw acceptance in her eyes this time even though he was smiling sadly at him. It wasn't enough but this was a huge step on moving on.

Their long eye contact was cut off when Tommy's voice was heard from the speakers, "Hey, HEY! CAN ANYONE— Oh, okay nevermind. Everyone can hear me."

Joel cringed at the sight of his Tommy standing on the stage with a microphone in his hand. He hid his face in his hand as if he was embarrassed he called him his brother, "Tommy never changed."

Grace laughed at this which caught him off-guard. It was lighthearted and honest. It made him remove his hand from his face.

Tommy spoke up again, "Grace! Come to the stage! Now, don't hide. I can see you clear as day, girl."

Joel noticed a disgusted look on Grace face. He can't blame her. "Just go to the stage before Tommy embarrass himself even further."

Grace looked at him questionably, "You're actually concerned about him right now?"

Joel then smirked, "On second thought, I think you should stay here. I would really love to see him embarrass himself in the stage just like old times."

The girl beside him laughed again but louder this time. "Man, I agree with you but I'll go. I'm kinda pitying him right now."

"Good luck with that, kid."

Grace froze in her spot before leaning closer to Joel, "Don't call me kid, Joel."

Joel leaned back on the counter, "Why's that?"

"Because I'm 21 years old." And with that, she left him froze in his spot this time. But he recovered from it by letting out a good laugh.

He definitely wasn't expecting his night to be as fun as this one. But he was happy that he was able to enjoy it especially with Grace.

  


* * *

  


As Grace walked up to the stage, Maria ran pass by her. She pulled out the microphone out of Tommy's hands and pushed him offstage. Her husband complied and then headed towards the nearest picnic table and lied down to sleep. _Yep, he embarrassed himself enough now._

All of the people inside the diner laughed at this including Maria. She then caught her attention when she spoke up, "I would like for everyone to know about this new person we have in community. I would like to give her an offiicial thanks and welcome from all. Grace saved not only Ollie's patrol group but also my hubsand and his brother, Joel."

As Maria passed the microphone to Grace, everyone cheered and shouted. Some were clapping. It was a sight that definitely softened her heart. 

Everyone then raised their mugs up in the air. She looked for the people she had talk with. In Ollie's picnic table, Luca was grinning while Kotaro was waving at her. She looked over by the grilling section to see Ollie raising his tongs instead. Raven was standing not too far away from him with Esther beside him.

She looked over at Ellie's group and the sight made her almost laugh. Ellie looked around for a while before raising her drink in the air. Cat put her hand on top of Ellie's who blushed. But they snapped out of it when they heard Dina scolding Jesse because he was raising the King chess piece in the air instead of his drink. But of course, he didn't pay attention to Dina.

She looked at the bar and saw Seth raising his drink as well. When her eyes met Joel's, she felt the same comfortable sensation she felt after talking to him earlier. With pasts now revealed to each other, the barriers between them have been destroyed.

She then realized that everyone was holding out their drinks in the air for a minute now. She raised the microphone to her lips and said, "Uh, cheers?"

"Cheers!" Everyone shouted as they drank in their mugs and then clapped again for her.

Filled with pure happiness, she showed them her sweetest smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to tell me your opinions!! :)
> 
> Next update: Aug. 10, 2020


	9. Trial and Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grace went back to the same building where she first met Joel and Tommy with Jesse. Upon their return in Jackson, she was invited to have a dinner in a friend's house.

Grace knocked on the brown wooden door for three times before burying her hands in the pockets of her trench coat. The door opened, revealing a surprised Maria.

"Jesse came by the training area earlier. He told me that you wanted to see me after lunch," Grace explained her presence.

Maria was about to say something when they heard someone greeting her from inside the house, "Hey, Grace!"

"Come in." The head of Jackson sighed before opening the door completely to reveal Jesse standing inside. He waved a hand on her.

Grace entered the house then closed the door behind her. She stood up beside Jesse. She looked at him first before staring at Maria.

The blonde-haired woman sat on a couch before looking up at her, "Are you still interested on joining the patrol?"

Grace was surprised to hear this from her. It has been a week after all. She never brought it up to any people within that period.

"Yes."

Maria looked at her with an unreadable expression, "Why are you so determined on joining the patrol?"

Grace shifted her weight on her right foot uncomfortably before looking down on the floor. She didn't want to tell them the whole truth. Mainly because it was weird and they probably would think she's dangerous. But she knew that if she lies, Maria would find out.

She took a deep breath before looking at the woman in front of her, "I've been having this urge of killing the infected."

Silence enveloped the three of them as the two woman had a staring contest. They didn't even notice the other person in the house.

Jesse then spoke up, "Wow, we need more of that determination of yours." Grace looked at the man beside him weirdly. _They aren't freaked out on what I just said?_

"You're in." Maria smiled at her as if she was proud on her answer. She stood up, "Tommy and I have been thinking about this for a while now. That's why we never talked to you about it until now." Grace nodded at her, silently telling her that it was okay.

Jesse smiled at her, "Ollie's group has finish their training so they will be joining the patrol again."

Maria put her hands on her hips, "Now, Grace. This is only a trial for now. Being a part of patrolling means waking up early in the morning either every day or depending on your schedule. If you pass, we'll discuss about your schedule and all. Jesse will be the one to be with you since he's the only person available right now."

Grace asked, "Where are we going?"

"Same building where you first met Joel and Tommy." Maria walked towards the closet near the doorway leading to the kitchen.

She opened it and grabbed a backpack. She closed it before walking towards Grace to give it to her, "Check each floor, clear out the infected and get supplies. You don't have to search the whole building within a day. Just search as many as you can. You have to return before sundown."

Grace nodded. Jesse put his hand on her shoulder with a signature smile on his face, "Let's go, partner."

She playfully scoffed at her, making Jesse laugh before they walked outside Maria's house.

  


* * *

  


"Man, I really thought Skye will die alone. You really did a great job on taming a silent horse. It was weird because she rarely interacts with people nor other horses," Jesse complimented Grace as they tied their horses on a tree branch.

"Maybe it's because she thinks we're the same," Grace remarked.

Jesse thought of her first days in Jackson when she rarely talked to anyone except it was needed. But after talking to Ellie, she warmed up to almost everyone else. The Asian man laughed, "Maybe."

Jesse walked ahead of her towards the abandoned building. Grace looked up to observe it. 10 floors. _I didn't notice that because of the storm._

She looked at the man standing outside the entrance of the building. He told her, "Can you show me the exact room where you met Joel and Tommy for the first time?"

It was a strange request but she let him. She nodded before leading the way. She opened the doors and carefully climbed down on a hole. The whole first floor was blocked by rubble after all so the hole was the only way for them to get access on the building.

"Here." The room was the same as she left it almost 3 weeks ago.

"Damn," Jesse whistled as he looked around the room. "That's a lot of infected." Grace nodded in agreement.

He looked at the woman beside him who was gazing at the infected lying on the ground, "What happened here?"

"Joel and Tommy were running away from a horde of infected and found themselves entering the same room where I was. I've already killed some of them before they came. Joel killed the last one. We, uh, had a heated argument because I was stubborn," Grace decided not to reveal the exact same words that Joel told her before.

She continued, "Runners found us and I told them to go. They didn't want to at first but I got angry. So they went away and I killed the remaining infected."

Jesse asked her, "How did you end up here?"

She tensed up in her position. Ever since she revealed to Joel about her past, she didn't know if she can talk about it again. It took a lot of mighty effort for her to do it. She trusts Jesse since he's her friend. But she's not sure if she can say it again for now.

He put a hand on her shoulder which she noticed that he kept on doing it for a while now, "You don't have to tell me. But since you're planning to stay in Jackson, you should tell someone about your past."

"It's fine. I trust you," she reassured him.

Joel chuckled as he removed his hand on her shoulder. He crossed his arms in front of him, "Yeah, you trust me because you've beat me in chess one time."

His denial made Grace chuckled back. "Out of 20 battles we had, you didn't win a single one."

Jesse playfully rolled his eyes before heading towards the exit of the room, "Come on."

Grace trailed behind him, ignoring the uneasiness she felt when he asked her about her past.

  


* * *

  


Grace and Jesse were only able to explore until 5th floor. They found a lot of supplies along the way. And they've only killed 10 or 12 runners in total. It was nothing to them.

Now, Grace is standing alone in her kitchen to cook her dinner. She was about to grab the spatula hanging on the wall in front of her when she heard knocking at her door.

She walked towards the door to open it, revealing Ellie, Jesse, Dina and Cat. "Need something?"

Ellie spoke up, "We'll have dinner in Joel's house. We want you to join us if that's okay with you."

Grace couldn't help herself but smile at them. She was happy that they invited her. "Sure."

She went outside of her house before locking the door behind her. The five of them then began their way to Joel's house.

It took 15 minutes for them to arrive to his house. Along the way, Ellie, Cat and Dina were talking at each other. Jesse and Grace remained trailing behind the 3 ladies. Ellie hated at first the fact that the both of them were behind. But Jesse made it perfectly clear to them that it was like a tradition for the eldest to be walking behind to watch out for the young ones.

_Well, she hated it because it's like we treat them as children._

Grace found herself asking Jesse about the trial earlier. Jesse told her that she didn't need to worry about it since he got her back. She appreciated his gesture.

"Fuck! Not again!"

"Jesse, you're such a loser."

"Shut up, Ellie. You're worse than me."

"Hey!"

Grace laughed at their bickering as she leaned back on the couch, watching Jesse and Ellie throwing chess pieces towards each other.

"Jesse, are you seriously throwing chess pieces like a 10 year old?" Dina playfully glared at him.

The asian man stopped midway before shrugging, "Don't mind me." He resumed on throwing chess pieces on the 16-year old.

"Ellie," Grace called out on the auburn-haired girl who stopped throwing chess pieces on Jesse since there was nothing to throw anymore. Everything was scattered around the floor.

"Yeah?" Ellie looked at her for a second before proceeding to help Jesse on collecting the chess pieces after getting scolded by Dina. The other 2 girls headed towards the kitchen to explain the mess to Joel who was still cooking.

"Why Joel wouldn't eat with us?"

"Ah, he already ate with Tommy and Maria earlier."

Grace nodded before looking at the pathway towards kitchen since Dina appeared on the view to call on Jesse. The poor man followed her towards the kitchen, knowing he had to explain himself to Joel.

Ellie put the chess pieces back on the table. Grace helped her with it before saying, "So, Joel can cook, huh."

The tone in her voice made the younger one laugh, "Yeah. He can cook because he needed to learn for Sarah."

The two of them froze. Ellie looked at Grace with horrified expression, "Fuck! I shouldn't have said that!"

Grace tried to calm her down, "Joel told me about her."

This made Ellie looked at her with narrowed eyes in disbelief, "That's weird."

The both of them snapped out of their long eye contact when Joel's voice echoed in the house, "Ellie! Grace! Dinner's ready!"

Grace cleared her throat before standing up, "Let's go?"

Ellie nodded firmly before they headed towards the kitchen.

Grace couldn't shake the feeling that Ellie might've hate her. She doesn't know the reason behind it nor why she thought Ellie hates her. For some reason, it was what she can read on Ellie's face throughout dinner.

  


* * *

  


Joel woke up, hearing snores echoing in his house. He knew whose snores it was since he travelled with her for a year.

He groaned as he moved out of his bed. He looked outside the window, noticing that the community was silent.

He went downstairs, only to see Ellie sleeping on the couch on her stomach. Her cheek was on top of it as she snored and the sight made him smile. He walked towards her quietly to move the strand of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. _Just like what I do to Sarah._

He went towards the kitchen, discovering that the lights were switch off. But he can see Grace's back in front of the sink because of the moonlight passing through the window above it. He noticed that she was washing the dishes.

He was about to call out on her when Grace beat him out of it, "Hey, Joel."

He stood up beside her as he noticed the nervous look on his face. It was the same look she'd given him back in the party before she returned his rag. "Did Ellie force you to do the dishes?"

She nervously chuckled, "No, Joel." She stopped her movements before finally making an eye contact on him. Grace sighed, "Ellie drank beer after mistaking it for cold water. It was my fault."

Joel felt his shoulders tense up. He gave a rule on Ellie to never drink unless she's 18. He thinks her body isn't strong enough for it yet.

He knows Grace is responsible so he calmed himself down as he let her explain herself.

There were 3 dishes left in the sink so she paused for now to face him completely. "Right after you went to your bedroom to sleep, I headed towards the kitchen to grab a beer from your fridge—I promise to give you two bottles of it next time. Anyways, I poured it in my cup then left it by the table since I suddenly had the urge to pee. I came back, only to see Ellie unconscious on the couch. Jesse sniffed the cup and said it was beer. I told them that it was my fault and they bailed on me, saying I had to be careful around you."

Grace resumed back on washing the dishes, slower this time. Joel fought the urge to laugh mainly because Ellie was sleeping on the other side of the room. If she has an hangover, then waking her up in the middle of the night would be a bad idea.

The other reason why he wanted to laugh was because the silent and cool woman (yes, he chose to call her woman after finding out about her age) who brutally kills infected is scared of him.

He tried to have a serious tone in his voice, "So you thought you can repay by washing the dishes?"

"Isn't that enough? Not that I mind, though. I can come back and wash all of your dishes for weeks. Or if you have anything for me to do—"

Joel covered his mouth with his hand to stop himself from laughing loudly. He removed it as he chuckled quietly, "I'm just messing up with you, Grace. You don't need to do anything. But I'll be waiting on the beer offering."

Grace chuckled at this, finally finish with all of the dishes. She wiped her hands on a cloth beside the sink. "Noted."

Joel suddenly remembered something, "You need to look for Tommy and Maria tomorrow morning. You'll talk about your schedule on the patrol."

"Wait, I passed?"

He can see the excitement and hope in her eyes (or eye since half of her face is covered by her hair). Under the moonlight passing through the window above the sink, the sight of Grace smiling at her made him forget the reason why he was standing in front of her for a few seconds.

_What the fuck are you doing, Joel?!_

He snapped out of his thoughts and smiled back at her, "Yeah, Tommy told me about it. Congrats."

He saw complete happiness in her eyes this time. If only they were alone in his house, he could swear Grace would scream because of how happy she is. But since Ellie was sleeping, she clenched her fist before pumping it in the air silently.

Despite of the horrors that Grace has witnessed, he could tell she still has her childish behavior.

He waited for her to finish celebrating silently. She looked at the sink for a while before gazing around the kitchen, probably looking for any dishes.

Joel can tell it was already late at night. If there's any dishes left around, he'll just wash them in the morning. "You should go back to your house, Grace. You need to sleep."

The woman nodded excitingly as they walked towards the door of his house.

"Goodnight, Joel."

"Goodnight, Grace."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to tell me your opinions!! :)


	10. The Mansion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grace went to the mansion as part of her patrol duty with Ellie who just sneaked her way out of Jackson.

**WINTER, FEBRUARY 2036**

Grace talked to Tommy and Maria about her schedule of the patrol next day just like what Joel told her. They agreed on the deal of patrolling three times a week. And if they need to go to farther places to get more supplies, she can go with others. She'd been doing the patrol for 2 months already.

Grace walked towards the stables where Skye was waiting for her. Just like what Jesse said to her a few months back, the horse only trusts her. She still didn't know why but she was happy for that.

To her surprise, she found her auburn-haired friend standing beside the silent horse. She had her signature grin in her face which made Grace inwardly groan because she knew the meaning behind this grin. _She's planning something mischievous again..._

"What are you doing here, Ellie?"

Her young friend simply dodged the question and asked, "Are you going out all by yourself?"

"Yeah. Maria allowed me since 3 weeks ago. Why did you ask?" Grace walked closer to Skye and patted her head.

Ellie's eyes shone in delight, "Can I come with you?"

This was the first time that Ellie asked her this question. She was aware of the teenager's desire to go outside the community. But she was aware also of the fact that she wasn't allowed yet.

_Nice try, kid._

"No, you're not allowed." Grace crossed her arms in front of her to prove a point. She watched the excitement from Ellie's eyes disappear.

"Grace! Seth wants to give you a sandwich before you go! Go to his diner now!" She looked behind her shoulder to see Jesse shouting from a distance.

"Okay!" she shouted back to her friend before glancing at the angry teenager in front of her. "Get back to your work, Ellie."

Without waiting for her reply, she turned around and walked away from her friend.

  


* * *

  


Grace was lucky because the weather isn't being a burden to her. It was all sunny yet chill at the same time. Spring was coming in the next three weeks.

She was now travelling westward towards her destination. She didn't want to waste her time tiring Skye out by running. It was still early in the morning so she got the whole day all by herself.

She snapped out of her thoughts when she felt someone was following her. She patted Sky's head slowly as if to silently tell her to slow down. The horse followed her and began to walk in much slower pace.

She found a large boulder on their right side. She stared at intently, knowing that her stalker will appear soon. As if in cue, her stalker walked out of the boulder.

Grace groaned loudly, "Ellie! What the hell are you doing out here?! What did I tell you back in Jackson?!"

Ellie put her hands together and showed an apologetic look on her face, "Let me come with you please!"

She wanted to ask her how she was able to sneak out the community. But she can't waste any time in here.

Grace looked at the girl's belt and saw a gun tucked in it. "You know how to use a gun?"

"Yeah."

Grace was torn in between letting her friend go with her or bring her back to Jackson. Either way, Ellie will get scolded.

She sighed as she held out her arm on her, "Never ever leave my side, okay?"

Ellie grinned before saluting, "Yes, ma'am!" She walked towards Grace to grab her arm. She sat behind her on the horse.

Now that someone was with her, Grace thought of making Skye run so that they can arrive in the mansion as soon as possible. She kicked her side gently and the horse ran quickly. The sudden change of speed surprised Ellie.

She felt Ellie's arms tightened around her waist, "Where are we going?"

"Tommy told me about a mansion located 3 hours away in west of Jackson. It'll be good if it will be cleared out as well as about 10 meters away surrounding it. If all are cleared, then some patrol groups can stay there."

"Mansions are those big houses, right?"

"Huge."

"Well, let's go there! Faster, Skye!"

Grace chuckled under her breath as she let the teenager behind her encourage the horse on running faster. Of course, Skye didn't pay attention to her since she only listens to Grace.

  


* * *

  


The two dismounted from Skye. Grace tied her rope on a pipe attached to the wall in the garage.

As she patted the horse's head gently, she heard Ellie whistling in amazement behind her, "It's my first time seeing a very big mansion with gigantic metal gates, man!"

Grace offered her a smile as she walked towards her, "We have to check the perimeter first before exploring the mansion."

Ellie nodded at her in agreement, "We should go separately so we can do it faster."

Grace narrowed her eyes on her, "Ellie, we will stick together. That's final."

The teenager rolled her eyes, "You're like Joel, you know that? When we were travelling for about a year, Joel won't stop ordering me to stick with him always."

Grace tensed up a little bit since she was surprised that Ellie was telling her something about her past. She decided to play along. "So, is it a good thing to be like Joel?"

Ellie chuckled, "I guess so since it means I can trust someone just as much as I trust Joel."

Grace tried to forget the word trust as her eyes widened a bit. "That's a compliment." The last time Ellie complimented her was when they had a tour in Jackson.

"Don't let it stick in your ass, Grace."

Grace hummed in delight, "Come on. Let's finish this so we can take shelter right away."

  


* * *

  


**2 HOURS AGO IN JACKSON**

Joel was looking forward on this day. Not only because he will have his day off, he gets to spend the whole day with Ellie since she has her day off too.

He knocked on the door in Ellie's house, "Ellie? Let's go to my house. I rented some good movies from the library. Thought you would like to have a movie marathon with me."

He thought that Ellie might've her earphones in her ears with her Walkman playing. He turned the doorknob to open the door. "Ellie? Are you in the bathroom?" _No response._

He closed the door and explored the community to look for her friends. He asked Cat and Dina about Ellie but they told him that they haven't seen her today.

About 30 minutes of search, he found Jesse dozing off outside the training area. He asked him about Ellie.

"I saw her in the stables about an hour ago. She was talking to Grace." Jesse told him.

"Did you hear their conversation?"

"No. But I can tell that Ellie was being stubborn again. Grace crossed her arms in front of her."

Joel inwardly winced at this. Grace rarely crosses her arms. She only did it to Ellie, Jesse and Kotaro. She would only do it if she finds the person she's talking to stubborn or irrational.

And since Grace crossed her arms in front of Ellie, then that could only mean one thing. She tried to persuade Grace to let her go with her. _That girl never stops persuading people..._

"Do you know where Grace might be?"

"No but Tommy knows." Joel nodded at him as a thanks.

He was about to walk away when Jesse stood up while saying, "I'm coming with you."

Joel shook his head, "You can't. You have a patrol."

"Then I'll ask a permission from Tommy to let me ditch the patrol for now since I want to look for my friends."

Joel was a little bit amazed by the kid's courage. If he was in his position, he would do the same thing. "Come on."

They went to Tommy's house and found the married couple inside. They told him about Ellie's disappearance. For the adults, they were more worried of her disappearance than Jesse because of what had happened 2 years ago. But they calmed down when they found out that Grace was with her.

Tommy allowed Jesse to skip the patrol for now. He also volunteered on helping to find Ellie since he knew the mansion. Maria approved of the plan and decided to look for someone to replace Jesse on the patrol for now.

After grabbing guns as well as their horses, they headed out.

  


* * *

  


**PRESENT**

Grace opened the gigantic doors in front of them as they entered inside the mansion.

Ellie ran inside happily before twirling around to look at Grace, "Good thing we only dealt with few infected."

She smiled at her after closing the doors behind her, "You handled yourself pretty good out there."

Ellie's mouth formed a small 'o' before playing with her hands as she shyly looked away. She shook her head before grinning proudly at her friend, "Travelling with Joel half across the country taught me a lot of things." She said something about her past again.

Ellie looked around the large living room, "This is huge!"

"Yeah." There were three wings in total. The west wing where the garage was placed, the main wing where they are now, and the east wing. There were only 3 floors in total in each wing but the place was still big. All of the windows in the ground floor in each wing were all boarded up. It would take a long while before the place became secured.

She watched Ellie jumped on a couch to lie down on her stomach. The teenager glanced at her friend who was still standing near the door, "Why are you so tense? Every time I would tell you something about Joel and I, your shoulders would froze up."

Grace was surprised at her observation since she always made sure that her reactions won't be noticed. Since Ellie was asking her right now, she decided to bring up the question she had for a while now, "Why are you telling me so many information about you and Joel? I've only been in Jackson for only 2 months and we rarely see each other. This is like the 5th time."

"Oh," Ellie put her chin on top of the couch to stare at the armrest. "I... don't really know."

Grace sat on the couch in front of Ellie since she knew their conversation would be long.

Ellie continued, "Probably because my guts tell me to trust you. Maybe that's the same reason with Joel."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Joel's not the type to be open with his feelings especially my first months with him."

Grace suddenly remembered the first time she met Joel. She thought that he was grumpy as hell. Well, he is still grumpy. But only not as much as what she thought. "Yeah, I can tell that."

Ellie put her cheek on top of the couch this time to look at her friend, "You know how long it took before Joel tell me about Sarah?" Grace shrugged her shoulders.

"Almost a year. And yet he told you about her even though he only met you for like a month that time."

"He actually said it to me during the party."

"For a week then!" Ellie exclaimed. "We've been living in Jackson for almost 2 years yet he never told anyone about Sarah except for me, Tommy and Maria."

Grace arched her eyebrows, "What are you trying to say?" She gently stood up to look around more in the room as she felt the awkwardness seeping in her nerves.

Ellie smiled, "You're special. There's something in you that makes people feel comfortable with you."

Grace frowned at this as she turned her back on the teenager. This wasn't the first time someone told her these words. One of her brother's friends told her these words back in her previous community.

_Yet look what I did and the consequences that fell on them after committing those actions._

She felt chills as she realized that the same thing would probably happen to Jackson. But this time, she will make sure that it won't happen. If this is how the universe would warn her, then she will take note of it.

Without looking back at Ellie, she told her, "We should clear out the east wing first."

"Can't I stay on the couch for now?"

Grace can tell that Ellie was hurt on how she acted earlier after complimenting her. She didn't mean to do it.

She cleared her throat before gently telling her, "We can do that after we clear out the east wing, okay?"

She heard movements behind her as Ellie stood up from the couch. "Fine."

  


* * *

  


As they walked towards the east wing, Grace can't help but admire the pillars supporting the ceiling above them. There was an outdoor lobby connecting the main wing and the east wing.

The two of them entered quietly inside the east wing. Compared to the main wing and from the outside, the east wing appeared more messed up. The only exit they have now is the door behind them.

Grace gestured Ellie to be quiet by putting a finger on her lips. The teenager nodded at her as she pulled out her gun. Grace did the same thing with her knife. She whispered on her ear, "Be careful and be alert." She pulled away to watch Ellie nod at her.

They walked towards the long hallway, opening the doors leading to different rooms. There were only 4 doors and each room was big.

Along the way, Ellie whispered to her, "Why the floor is creaking everytime we walk?"

Grace looked at the floor and noticed that it was made out of wood. It was weird to see the east wing being the odd one out. The west wing and main wing were made out of cement.

She whispered back to her, "Maybe because the wood is old." It has been 23 years since the outbreak after all.

Reaching the end of the hallway, Ellie sighed happily, "Jesus, finally! Long ass hallways and giant ass rooms with no infected. 1 floor down, 3 more to go—"

Ellie stopped after they heard more creaking noises. The noises came from the 2nd floor as if someone was exploring the floor.

Whether it was a person or an infected, Grace can't risk the chance of Ellie getting hurt by letting her go first. She whispered to her, "Stay here. I'll signal you if you can go up." And with that, she slowly walked on the staircase.

"But—" she heard Ellie who immediately cut herself off. Probably she thinks it's too risky to say anything right now.

Reaching the 2nd floor, Grace noticed that all of the doors were opened. She pulled out her other knife quickly, creating a sound which echoed in the floor.

She mentally slapped herself for being stupid as the infected suddenly came out of the rooms. In her count, there were 8 runners and 2 clickers. All of them were running towards her. The long hallway bought her time to prepare for them. She was about to throw her knives when she saw the cracks forming on the floor.

"Go, Ellie! The 2nd floor is about to give up!" One runner launched itself towards her.

"What the— I'm staying! A-and come with me!" She can't do that. If Ellie isn't able to escape, then there's a chance that she will be trapped with the infected. The least thing she can do is to kill every infected as many as I can in a short period of time.

Stabbing the runner in its head and shoving it in front of her, she shouted, "Fucking go, Ellie!"

Two more runners caught up to her. She stabbed them both on their head. She heard steps running away from the ground floor. She hoped that Ellie will able to escape before the 2nd floor completely give up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to tell me your opinions!! :)


	11. Consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grace and Ellie faced the consequences of their actions. This caused Grace to open up a dark memory from her past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the 1k Hits guys!! I’m very happy because a lot of people are reading my story!
> 
> Also, I would like to apologize for not being able to post a new chapter for a long time now. I wasn’t feeling well so I took time on recovering. I feel much better now so here is another chapter for all of you!

Joel, Tommy and Jesse stopped their horses as they found big metal gates preventing them from entering the mansion.

“Is this the place?” Joel asked his little brother as he took a glimpse of the mansion. He noticed that it looked abandoned. Unlike the west wing and main wing which had the windows on the first floor boarded up, the east wing is the only one which had the windows in every floor all boarded up.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Tommy answered. He looked at his two companions after dismounting from his horse, “Come on. Help me with this.”

Joel and Jesse dismounted as well from their horses before following Tommy. They helped him open the metal gates slowly after grunting. They pulled their horses with them as they walked towards the garage. Joel opened the garage before they went inside.

Jesse pointed on the horse that was tied up near a pipe, “That’s Grace’s horse, Skye.”

Skye looked up at them as they tied their horses beside her. She neighed lightly before looking down on the floor to ignore them.

The three made their way inside the mansion. Joel was amazed on how huge the place is. It had been a long time ever since he had seen an empty mansion.

He heard Jesse saying, “I can see why you want Grace to check this out so badly.”

“Not the time, kid.” They can appreciate this some other time.

“Joel’s right. We need to find them.”

Jesse nodded, silently apologizing for his behavior. He asked them both, “Any idea where could they be? This is a huge place after all.”

Tommy spoke up, “Each one of us should go in one of those wings. Spreading out makes the search faster. Jesse, you take west wing. I take main wing while Joel takes east.” He looked at the two to see if they were against with his plan. After making sure they were agreeing with him, he said, “We meet up here and if someone needs help, just yell or something.”

Joel walked towards the door leading to the outside lobby which was connected to the east wing. As he was walking, he became worried because of how quiet the mansion is. If Grace and Ellie were here, he would’ve hear them. Especially Ellie is the loud one. But maybe Grace told Ellie to keep quiet so that they won’t alert anyone or anything.

“Goddamn it, Ellie! I knew you’ve always wanted to go out of Jackson to explore. But I didn’t expect you to pull off something like this.” Joel whispered to himself to let out his steam. He tried his best to keep it to himself as they travel after all.

Before opening the door in the east wing, he heard Grace shouting, “—fucking go, Ellie!” The tone of her voice worried him. As he turned the doorknob, he heard a loud sound coming from inside. As if something was destroyed.

He opened the door quickly and went inside. He was blocked by the wooden planks. “Ellie! Grace!”

“Joel!” He almost let out a sigh in relief as he heard Ellie’s voice.

“You okay? Where’s Grace?”

“Yeah! I’m fine! I think Grace is dealing with the infected from the other side. I can’t go to her!”

Joel was happy that Ellie was safe but he will be more happier if his eyes laid on the auburn-haired girl. He saw that the wooden planks can be removed so he took each one so he can get to Ellie.

“Shit! I can’t find my gun!” This made Joel worked faster.

And just in time as he finally made his way to Ellie after removing the wooden planks, he saw a runner hovering her. Ellie was struggling on pushing it away from her, keeping her right foot on its stomach and hands holding on its arms.

“Elli—” he was cut off when a clicker ran up towards him. He was forced onto the wall behind him as he tried to push the clicker away from him. He can’t reach for his gun because his hands were all on the clicker.

He heard Tommy’s and Jesse’s screaming their names. And before he can shout back at them, he first heard two gunshots and then found his hands holding nothing in the blink of an eye as he watched the clicker lie down on the floor in front of him.

He looked over at Tommy and Jesse who finally arrived. He thought they were the ones who shot the clicker and the runner. But they only have shocked expressions on their face.

He looked at Ellie who was standing up. She looked back at Joel with the same shocked expression. He looked at her hand and found it empty. _Who shot them?_

He looked on the far end of the dirty room to see Grace holding out Ellie’s gun. She was still pointing it in the air while her hand was shaking. She growled before throwing the gun away from her. The sound of the gun hitting the wall and then the floor echoed all around the room. 

Joel walked towards Ellie and grabbed her shoulders, “You okay, kiddo?”

She nodded slowly as she kept on looking at the woman behind her, “Y—yeah, I’m fine.”

Joel looked at Grace as she sat down on the ground. She adjusted her legs so that her knees reached her chest. She put her arms on each knee before exhaling shakily with her face looking down on the floor.

Jesse spoke up, “You alright, Grace?”

She nodded before replying, “Still not bitten.” Her tone alarmed everyone since she sounded like she was in shock. All of them wanted to comfort her but no one moved.

Her voice returned to a monotone, “You guys go ahead. I’ll catch up.” She looked on the wall on her right side. Her face was hidden from all of them because of her hair.

Joel walked one step forward, “Grace...”

She looked up on him, her hair covering half of her face, “Please...” Joel was expecting to see the bloodthirst he saw when he first met her. But he can only see vulnerability behind her eyes.

He nodded at her before following Jesse and Tommy who were already walking away. Elie was still staring at Grace with a worried expression. He gently put his hand on her shoulder to silently tell her to leave her behind. Ellie let him push her away, leaving a lonely woman sitting on the floor.

  


* * *

  


Grace rubbed her arm with her thumb as she waited for Tommy and Maria to speak up in front of her and Ellie. All of them were sitting on the couches in the married couple’s house except for Joel. He was leaning against the wall on his back with his arms crossed in front of him. Jesse went back to his patrol duty as soon as they came back in Jackson.

They told Tommy and Maria about the scenarios that happened leading to the what had happen in the mansion. Grace can see that Ellie was apologetic in the way she butted in her story.

Ellie wanted to tell then that this was all of her fault and not Grace’s. She appreciated this but she can see who was clearly wrong.

Tommy spoke up after he and Maria talked, “Okay, Maria and I have already decided for your punishments. Ellie, you have to work on the walls again and farming every day. This means that you have to wake up before sunrise and less breaks.”

Grace looked at the teenager beside her in the corner of her eyes. She was unfazed in all of this.

“And for you, Grace.” She looked at him completely. “You will not do patrol duty for a month. You will work on the library for that. And you’re banned from carrying your knives anywhere you go in Jackson for a month.”

Her eyes widened slightly at this because all of them knew she feels a lot safer with her carrying at least one knife. Last month, the doctor of Jackson checked up on her and concluded that she was traumatized. The only thing that can help her at least was carrying at least one knife anywhere she goes.

The doctor concluded that her past was the cause of who she is right now. Grace was amazed at this of how accurate the doctor was although she never told her the exact things in her past.

She collected herself as Ellie butted in, “You can’t do that to her! I should have the worst punishment since I sneaked out of Jackson!”

Grace reassured her while she was looking at Tommy who was clearly hiding something, “It’s my fault, Ellie. I spotted you a few miles away from Jackson. I knew that I should’ve bring you back but I didn’t.”

Maria nodded at this, “I’m glad that you know both of you have faults.” She waited for anyone to speak before continuing, “Grace, you can go back to your house. The four of us need to talk about something.”

Grace nodded at this before grabbing her backpack from the ground. She heard Ellie calling out on her but she ignored her as she left the house.

She didn’t want to ignore her teenage friend but she would like to get to her house as soon as possible. What happened back in the mansion wasn’t supposed to happen. She hasn’t touched nor used a gun for about 10 years now. She promised to herself to never touch a gun ever again. But when she found Ellie and Joel in a hard situation and her knives were back in the other room, she knew she had to use the gun to save them.

And when she pointed the gun to the infected, she suddenly saw her dad shouting at her to leave while she watched him getting eaten by the infected. She also had the gun pointing at the infected but she didn’t fire at all.

And when she shot the infected that were pinning Joel and Ellie, she saw her dad getting shot on his head with the gun in her hands twice. It had been 10 years but the memory felt like it only happened yesterday.

To her surprise, she found herself standing in front of her house. Despite of the sunny day giving a vibe of happiness, Grace knew it didn’t affect her one bit. She took a deep breath before entering inside her house, only to be drowned by her thoughts once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to tell me your opinions!! :)


	12. One Month of “Punishments”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grace spent her one month working in the library in the morning and training with Tommy secretly in the afternoon. This was the longest she had been in Jackson ever since she started living there.

**SPRING, MARCH 2036**

For a month, Grace worked in the library. The things she did involved observing the library when it’s open, cleaning the place and organizing the books by order. This was really her first time to not be involved on outside of Jackson nor worrying about her own survival.

Esther is the only person who works in the library. Grace knew that Esther was really happy to have someone with her in work. In just a few days, they became friends. Grace got to talk about positive things again. The last time she talked about the stupidest things and became happy about it was 4 months ago back in her old community.

Today was Grace’s last day of work. Tomorrow, she can go back on her patrol duty. She was currently sitting beside Esther while they read a book. The older woman was reading “The Alchemist” by Paolo Coelho while Grace read “The Maze Runner” by James Dashner.

Esther closed the book, catching Grace’s attention. She placed it gently on the table before looking at her, “Last day, huh?”

Grace closed the book as well, “Yeah.”

“I would really miss our chats.”

She smiled, “Me too.” And she actually means it.

Esther smiled at her, “Since it’s your last day, how about I confess to you about something?”

“You’ve always confess to me about things, Esther. Of course, I would like to hear your confession.” Grace chuckled.

Almost every day, Esther would confess to her about things she did before the outbreak. She was a teenager before the infected became loose. She told Grace about sneaking out of her house just to attend a party, fake a disease just to have a party in her house, have sex with her ex-boyfriend, accidentally trying drugs, and many more bad things.

Grace was surprised at first since she thought Esther was a gentle woman. She didn’t know she was wild.

“I used to have a crush on Joel. Like huge.”

Grace blinked slowly, saying nothing. Esther waved a hand in front of her face, “No reaction?”

“No, I mean, it’s just, I knew already.”

Esther’s eyes widened, “Really?” Grace nodded which made her older friend laugh. “It became the talk of the town actually.”

_Now this is something I don’t know._

“Why though?”

Esther shrugged, “Joel and Ellie were only been living in Jackson for a few weeks that time. When I saw Joel, I thought he was just simply one of the men who are trying to be buff and all. But when I talked to him, I almost laughed in front of him because I didn’t think he was awkward when talking to women.”

Grace thought of Joel being awkward to any woman. She can’t clearly picture it but she would love to see it one day.

“So days passed and I told my friends about my interest on Joel. I don’t know how but Tommy eventually found about it. And in just a couple days, he started to hook Joel with me.”

Grace chuckled, “Tommy playing the role as Cupid? That’s very hard to believe.”

Esther laughed at this, “It was very surprising because he’s his little brother so I thought he would be protective or something. But anyways, it didn’t last long because Ellie told me to back off of Joel.” _You mean shouted?_

She looked away while smiling at the memory, “Honestly, I wasn’t really hurt when she told me that. It was very sweet for her.”

“What do you mean?”

“Everyone knows that Joel became a father to her. It seemed to me that she was only trying to be protected with her father. They never said ‘I love you’ to each other but that was one of her ways of letting him know.”

Grace thought about the times when she’s with Joel and Ellie. She never heard them say those three words towards each other. But actions speak louder than words.

The main door of the library suddenly opened, making them both turn their heads to look at the person who opened it. It was Tommy. “Let’s go, Grace.”

She stood up as Esther gave her a thumbs-up, “Goodluck on your secret training!”

In Grace’s one month of punishment, she thought she would be working only in the library for the whole day. But she was wrong.

Every Friday afternoon, Tommy would go to the library to tell her to come with him. At first, she didn’t know what was it about. She remembered the first day.  
  


_Grace watched Tommy ran down the hill towards a small torn down building. “What are we doing exactly?”_

_“Just come down here, Grace.”_

_She sighed before running down the hill as always. Standing beside Tommy, she analyzed her surroundings._

_There was no ceiling so she can clearly see the afternoon sky. She was standing behind the counter. She noticed that several barrels and boxes were scattered on the floor. Each barrel and box has either a bottle or a small sack of unknown things._

_Her blood ran cold. The place was a shooting range._

_“Look, I know you don’t like guns. I thought you don’t like them simply because you don’t know how to use one. But after seeing you with the gun yesterday, it was obvious that you’re experienced with guns.”_

_Grace crossed her arms in front of her before glaring at Tommy, “Just get to the point.”_

_His mouth formed a firm line before chuckling nervously, “I thought I should help you how to be confident on holding the gun. Now that I know you’re experienced, then I thought that the reason why you don’t like guns is that something happened in your past. I thought I should help you overcome your fear.”_

_“I don’t need this.” She was about to walk away when Tommy placed his hand on her shoulder to stop her._

_“I know you want to protect people. But what if using knives alone can’t protect them? Firing a gun is faster than throwing knives. You know that.”_

_Grace can see his point and hated him for it. She hated how he was correct. Yesterday, she left all of her knives on the other side of the room. And the only thing that can help Joel and Ellie, who were almost got bitten, was firing Ellie’s gun. So she grabbed it, pointed it to the runner and fired. She did the same thing on the clicker._

_She sighed before putting her arms on her sides, making him remove his hand as well. “Fine.” He smiled at her before starting their first lesson._

She smiled back, saying, “I’ll come back later.”

“Sure thing.”

Before leaving the library, she waved at Esther one last time.

* * *

Grace reloaded the rifle before firing it to another sack. After doing this for 5 times, she looked at Tommy who was grabbing more sacks to replace the sacks she shot. “Esther told me you became Cupid for a while.”

He stopped on his tracks and stared at Grace with a confused expression. She watched him silently as his face broke into a grin. “Oh that.”

He chuckled before continuing, “I tried to set her and Joel up but it clearly didn’t work.”

“Why were you trying to set them up?”

He shrugged, “I thought Joel would love to be with a woman again who can be at least a mother to Ellie. But they made it clear to me that they are better off with just the two of them.”

“There are pretty inseparable after all.” Grace chuckled at this.

She tried to forget the fact she saw a slight hesitation on Tommy’s face when she said those words. She tried to think of a next topic.

“Hey, do you know that Ellie is shy towards you?”

Grace narrowed her eyes at Tommy, “No? Why would she be?” _Is that the reason why I never got to talk to her? And everytime I would hang out with her group, she would coincidentally not there?_

“She’s still feeling guilty about what she did.”

Grace knew about this since she made it perfectly clear to her that it was her fault when they came back to Jackson. “I’ll just talk to her about it.”

Tommy nodded before looking at the rifle in her hands. He smiled, “You’re getting better with guns.”

She looked at it before looking back at him, “Yeah.”

“You think you can handle the guns by yourself from now on?” Tommy asked her in a concerned way. She never told him about what really happened that caused her to not be able to use a gun. But she appreciated how concerned he was.

She nodded, “I think so but I don’t have my own gun.”

Tommy waved his hand off, “That’s fine. I’ll give the guns to you tomorrow morning.”

She nodded at him before looking up at the orange sky. It was almost sundown. Tomorrow, she’ll go back to her patrol duty again. She’ll probably be partnered up with either Joel or Jesse for a while before Tommy and Maria allowed her to continue her solo patrol. She’ll go to the mansion to kill all of the infected once they allowed her.

She snapped out of her thoughts when Tommy’s voice broke out, “Come on. Let’s go back to Jackson.”

She gazed at her with a questioning look on her face, “But the sun has just started to set. We got like 2 hours more at least.”

“You told Esther that you’ll come back, right? Then you should take this time to talk to her since you’ll need a good night rest for tomorrow.”

Grace smiled at this. Her one month of punishment brought her closer with the people she wasn’t able to talk to since she was always outside Jackson.

“People are going to be surprised when they see me carrying guns.”

Tommy chuckled, “No doubt.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to tell me your opinions!! :)


	13. Happy 17th Birthday, Ellie!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ellie celebrated her 17th birthday with her loved ones. Who would’ve known Joel has something up in his sleeves after the party?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I apologize for not being able to upload a new chapter last Monday. My brother asked help from me with his homework. But I’m back now with a new chapter. Enjoy reading!

**SPRING, APRIL 2036**

Grace woke up after hearing someone knocking on her door. She looked outside to see that the sun was barely out. She got up from her bed and tried to fix her bed hair as she headed downstairs.

Opening the door, she found a smiling Kotaro in front of her, “Hey, Grace!”

She sent him a sleepy smile, “Hello. Where are we heading today?”

“Just the mansion as always.”

“Okay. I’ll go get ready.”

“I’ll meet you in Seth’s Diner. Dad, Luca and Raven are already there.”

She gently closed the door before heading upstairs to take a bath.

Right after her off duty was lifted, her schedule changed. She told Tommy and Maria that she’s willing to do patrol duty every day but only until 3 since she wants to work in the library as well. The married couple approved this because Esther obviously needs help on taking care of a huge library. Esther was delighted about this.

After getting ready, she headed downstairs to grab her gear and left her house, locking the door behind her. She stretched before looking up at the sky turning into morning.

As an exchange for her work in the library, she would have to wake up earlier in the morning to consume the 10-12 hours duty. The sudden change of sleeping schedule bothered Grace in the first few days. But she had it under control now.

She opened the door in Seth’s Diner and was immediately enveloped by the strong scent of pancakes. She found Ollie’s group sitting near the entrance. She sat beside Kotaro after waving at them. “It smells like heaven here. What’s the occasion?”

Her four friends looked at each other before looking back at her. Luca asked, “You don’t know?”

Grace mumbled a thank you to Seth as he placed a plate stacked with pancakes and then started eating. “What?”

Ollie spoke up, “It’s Ellie’s birthday today. Seth is cooking pancakes since it’s her favorite. It’s Joel’s request, too.”

Grace felt guilty, realizing she never asked for anyone’s birthday especially it’s her bestfriend’s birthday. She found Joel sweet for requesting Ellie’s favorite food in the diner. If he was planning to be a great father to her, then it’s definitely working. If Ellie found out about the hardwork he do for her, she would be happy.

She took a bite on her pancake as Raven told the group, “I heard Joel’s planning to have a party for her. Just a small one though.”

“Are we invited?” Kotaro asked.

Ollie nodded, “Yeah, we are.”

“Nice!”

What the four men didn’t know was that Grace was thinking of a present that she can give to Ellie. She remembered that Ellie was looking for new comics. She already finished a lot of comic and can’t find new ones since no one was really bothering to bring home one. She knew Joel was always looking but couldn’t find one. Maybe there’s comics in the mansion.

  


* * *

  


“Happy Birthday, Ellie!”

Everyone shouted in Joel’s house as the birthday girl looked around happily. Seeing the big genuine smile on his baby girl’s face made Joel proud of himself.

After minutes of waiting for Ellie to move, she chuckled, “Are you guys gonna stand there like statues or are we gonna eat?”

Jesse ran towards the kitchen, “Oh, thank God! I’m starving!”

“Get back here! Ellie should be the first one to eat!” Dina chased him and grabbed his ear to stop him from running. He frowned at the girl beside him but complied which made everyone laugh.

Joel was now standing on his door. He looked at everyone and saw smiles on their faces. In the kitchen, Tommy and Maria were talking to Ollie’s group and Esther. It was hard to convince Esther on attending Ellie’s birthday. She was worried that she was still mad at her but Joel reassured her that it was no longer an issue for her.

In the living room, Ellie’s friends were all gathered there. Ellie and Cat were sitting on the couch together. On the other chair, Dina was eating the salad from her plate.

Joel chuckled under his breath when Dina picked up the pillow from her couch and threw it to Jesse who was sitting on a beanbag. He caught it in his hands and placed it under his feet.

All of Ellie’s friends was here except for one. _Grace._

Ever since the mansion incident happened, he and Ellie weren’t able to talk to Grace. They were always working after all. Joel tried to have time to talk to Grace but it never came. He became busy last month since the number of infected lurking a few miles from the mansion was increasing. And when he finally got time, Grace was back again in her patrol duty.

After debating on himself if he should invite Grace in Ellie’s birthday, he told Ollie to bring the idea of the party to her. He didn’t really know if Grace was still cool with the both of them. Ollie found it strange at first but he understood.

Looking down at his empty plate, he thought of grabbing more of the deer meat. But before he could walk, someone knocked on his door. He opened it and his eyes widened at the person standing in front of him, “Grace!”

He noticed that nothing much changed on Grace. Appearance wise. Half of her face was still covered by her hair. But she had stop wearing trench coat ever since spring started. She was now wearing maroon long sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans and boots. It was his first time to see her in a casual wear.

“Joel! Hey, uh,” Grace brought up her hand which was gripping a comic. “I’m late, aren’t I?”

He was surprised to see she was nervous. If anyone would be nervous, it should be him. “It’s fine. We just started, actually. Come inside.”

Grace stepped inside his house and froze in her spot, looking past behind his shoulders. He looked over and saw Ellie staring at Grace. He backed away slightly from them to give them space.

The older woman waved her free hand at Ellie before sending her an awkward smile, “Happy Birthday. I’m sorry that I was late. It’s just, I was attempting to wrap this up but then I realized we have no tapes so—”

Ellie didn’t say anything to her. She just ran up to her and hugged her tightly. Grace moved backwards slightly due to the impact.

The birthday girl pulled away from her, “You came! I thought I would never be able to talk to you again. I thought you’re mad at me.”

Grace’s eyebrows shot up, “Mad? Why would ai be mad?”

Ellie scratched her neck before looking at her shyly, “The mansion and all. It was my fault.”

And to their surprise, Grace laughed at her. It was so lively and loud that everyone in the house stopped on what they were doing so that they can look for the owner of the laughter.

“I’m not mad at you, Ellie. I never became mad.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, fucking finally! I was scared to shitballs, dude!” Joel chuckled at her words as he watched her hug Grace again.

The older woman wrapped her arms tightly around her this time. She looked at Joel and smiled slightly. He smiled back.

Ellie pulled away again before grabbing the comic inside her hands. “Avengers.” she read the title. She opened it and read the first page. She closed it after her face turned into a grin, “I’m in the first page and I already like it. Thanks, Grace!’

“You’re welcome, kid.” she ruffled her hair which made the birthday girl slapped her hand away.

“I’m not a kid anymore, you know?”

“As long as you stay younger than me, then you’re a kid.” Ellie playfully rolled her eyes before getting back to the living room to show the comic.

Joel walked up to Grace, “Thanks for the gift.” It really means so much to him since he was unsuccessful on finding a comic.

“No problem,” she smiled at him.

Joel then remembered that he didn’t actually invite her at all. He explained, “I didn’t straight up tell you about Ellie’s birthday because I thought we weren’t cool anymore.”

Grace looked away before chuckling, “It’s my fault. Both of you were working your asses off while I’m only working in the library. If anyone who has the time to approach you, it should be me.”

Joel wanted to tell her that she shouldn’t took a blame for it but then he knew she wouldn’t stop insisting that she’s the one to blame. Remembering his conversation with Ollie last hight, he asked her, “Ollie told me you use guns now?”

“Yeah, I’m using them now. Tommy trained me.”

This caught his attention (not that Grace never caught his attention, that is, since she always grabs his attention).

“Tommy trained you?”

“Yeah, before nightfall, we would go to a shooting range. He trained me on how to use some guns.”

He looked over at Tommy who was laughing in the kitchen. He playfully glared, “He told me that he had errands to do in Jackson and never discuss anything about it in details. I would’ve been the one to help you, ya know?”

Grace hummed, “It was awkward at first honestly. I sometimes wished you were the one who trained me. But I got used to your little brother.”

Joel laughed at this, “Well, it’s never too late to train you again.”

She smiled at this. Joel liked these moments with her. It was amazing the fact that Grace was a 21 year old woman but acts more matured than anyone else in her bracket age. It made him forget that she was a lot younger than him.

Tommy’s voice broke out, coming from the kitchen, “Are you two just gonna stand there or are you gonna eat?”

“Fuck off, Tommy.”

“Fuck you, too, big brother.”

Grace laughed at this before looking at Joel, “We should go to the kitchen. I haven’t eaten anything and I think you want second plate.”

His eyebrows arched up in tease, “Girl, this is my second plate.”

Her eyes widened before starting to walk, “I thought being old would make you stop eating more.”

“You got it all wrong then,” he said, following his friend with his empty second plate in his hand.

  


* * *

  


Joel waited for Ellie to come back to the living room as he adjusted the blanket above him. After the party, he told everyone that if they would leave the house, all of them should go together so that Ellie would be distracted while he builds the pillow fort in the living room.

In their first movie night, Ellie had been insisting to have a pillow fort but they never did it since it was either they were both tired or completely forgotten about it. But he wanted to do something special for his baby girl so he thought he should give this a go. _Hopefully she still likes the idea of pillow forts._

The last time she talked about pillow forts was about a year ago. It had been a long time. Joel then panicked. _Maybe I shouldn’t have done this. I should take this down—_

He froze in his tracks when he heard Ellie gasping behind her. _Shit!_ He didn’t notice the sound of the door closing.

He nervously cleared his throat before coming out of the pillow fort to stand up and look at her. The lights were all switched off. The only source of light they had was the television.

He watched Ellie’s face broke into a grin before walking towards him slowly. She looked at the pillow fort placed on the center of the room. “You built this? How did you even— Oh! You used them as a distraction, didn’t you?”

Joel smiled at her, “I always knew you were smart.” He then went inside the pillow fort and patted the spot next to him.

Ellie chuckled at this before sitting down beside him. She looked around as she sighed happily, “I maybe too old for this but I do really like it.”

“Thanks, Joel.”

The smile on her face was enough to wipe out of all Joel’s worries. The both of them were content and happy. Maybe Joel was slightly happier than her.

“You’re welcome, baby girl.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to tell me your opinions!! :))


	14. You Like-Like Someone?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After her patrol duty, Grace went to the library as always. In her alone time, Ellie visited her to talk about the concept of love.

**SPRING, MAY 2036**

“How’s the mansion?”

“We’re almost done. Just need to move some furnitures that are blocking the stairs.”

“Okay. I should send in more men then.”

“You’re the boss, Tommy.” Grace smiled at the blonde-haired man before grabbing her backpack from the table.

Right after the patrol duty, she would always go to Tommy’s house to return his guns. She would like to own a gun but it was impossible for now since she was limited only to do her patrols in the mansion.

She exited his house before taking a good look around the community. Some people passed by her and offered her a smile which she paid back with a smile as well. When she saw children running around, they waved a hand at her.

It was another spring day for everyone.

She walked in the streets of Jackson to head at the heart of the community. She stood up straightly in her spot as she watched families coming out of the library’s doors. Esther followed them on their way out with a smile on her face.

The families passed by Grace as well and greeted her. She greeted them back with a smile. She looked back at the doors to find her friend standing there.

She walked towards her, “Visitation?”

Esther shrugged as she opened the doors for Grace so they can both go inside, “Not really. The school wants the kids to hang out here more often.”

Grace put her backpack under the table gazing at her friend who went to the front counter, “That’s great, then. They can explore and learn more.”

Esther grabbed the key from the counter before walking up towards her, “Yeah, it is. I said yes right away, you know?”

She chuckled before grabbing the key in her friend’s hand. She pulled out a chair beside her and sat on it. She opened her backpack to pull out the book she’s been reading for almost a week.

She opened the book to page 89 and started reading. About an hour later, she heard the doors behind her opened. She glanced at the wall clock to see it striking to 4 in the afternoon. _Esther usually leaves the library by this time._

She heard voices talking to each other but she didn’t listen to it so she can focus on the book in her hands. When the door closed, a chair beside her was pulled out and someone sat on it.

“ _The Fault in our Stars_ , huh? I’ve never read this before.”

Grace closed the book and her eyes as well before saying, “You’re not much of a reader, Ellie.”

“I read comics.”

“Still.”

She glanced at Ellie and noticed the nervous look on her face. She was about to ask her about it when she beat her to it, “What’s the book about?”

If Grace was a dog, her ears would definitely go up as she wagged her tail. She smiled brightly at her before answering her question, “It’s about a girl who has cancer. She met this guy who has almost the same disease as hers. They fell in love, traveled and did everything they want.”

When Grace first read the book, she was weirded out because it was different to her usual supernatural books. Esther wanted her to read it as well and so she did. The story was a lot better and deeper.

_It’s so amazing how someone like me who never fell in love understands the connection between these two characters. The author must be really good._

Ellie still had the same nervous look on her face but she can see that she was interested with what she was saying, “What happened to them?”

Grace almost chuckled at this. Esther begged her to not read the last three chapters of every book she reads. She said that it would kill the thrill and excitement.

But Grace is an impatient person when it comes to books. So she would always end up reading the last three chapters of the books.

“Well, the guy’s condition worsened which eventually led to his death. The girl reads the letter he wrote for her.”

Ellie’s eyes widened, “Wow, that’s depressing.”

Grace nodded in agreement, “Yes, it is.”

Ellie narrowed her eyes as she realized something, “Wait, if this is your first time reading this, then why do you know the ending?”

“I may or may not have read the last three chapters,” she let out a chuckle.

Ellie gasped at this before glaring at her, “Man, why are you like that? You just don’t read the ending.”

She shrugged before analyzing her face. She showed her a small smile, “You need something, Ellie? I’ve told you before that there are no comics in the library. If you’re looking—“

“There are in the school, yeah, I know.” Ellie nervously chuckled. “But that’s not why I’m here.”

Grace frowned in concern as she put the book back in her backpack. She can read next time anyways. “Is something wrong?”

She watched her face turned into many expressions. First was shock, then embarrassment, then confusion before turning back to embarrassment again. “Uh..”

Grace waited for her to continue by simply staring at her in anticipation.

“How do you know if you like someone? As in like-like.”

Grace looked at her with widened eyes before laughing. She tried to stop laughing when she saw Ellie’s face turned into embarrassment.

“I’m sorry, it’s just—“

“Stupid, I know. I’ll just go,” Ellie was about to stand up when Grace stopped her by grabbing her arm.

She pulled away when she saw her settling back in her seat. “It’s not stupid, Ellie. That’s totally normal. You’re turning 18 next year and these feelings you’re having.. there are totally normal.”

Ellie nodded in relief, “Okay, then.”

Grace grinned, “So, who is it?”

“No, Grace.”

She chuckled at this, “Okay, okay, I’ll stop.” Ellie scoffed at her as she waited for her to continue.

Grace cleared her throat, before gazing out of the window as she thought of the words to say to answer her question, “You will feel these fluttering in your stomach. Or maybe warmth spreading throughout your body. Can be a combination of both. When you’re with them, you find yourself asking what you should do. You want them to be happy. You love talking to them. And you would find yourself staring at them out of nowhere and appreciate the smallest things about them.”

Ellie stared at her in amazement, “Sounds like you’re in love.”

“Esther’s words, not mine,” she shook her head.

“She told you?”

Grace nodded before continuing, “She would always rant about how she loves Raven.” There would be days where she literally had to cover Esther’s mouth so she would stop talking. Hey, she’s happy that her friend and her boyfriend are happy with each other. But Grace didn’t need to hear about it every day.

Ellie’s next question snapped her out of her thoughts, “Do you like-like someone, Grace?”

She thought about it for a few seconds before saying, “I don’t think so.”

“You sure? Not Luca? Maybe Kotaro?” She thought about them for a while.

Despite of Luca’s fiery attitude, they get along very well. She’s one hundred percent sure that Luca has insulted her more than complimented her. But they are good friends.

As of Kotaro, he and Luca were opposite. He was more gentle and happy person. At first, she judged him as the vulnerable one. But whenever they face a horde of infected, Kotaro wouldn’t second thought of protecting her or simply standing in front of her. He was loyal to her as she was loyal to him.

Grace then shook her head, “Neither, Ellie. I’m pretty su—“ A name appeared in her mind which made her stop. It was weird but she acknowledged it.

Ellie was confused on this at first but when she caught up what was happening, her face broke into a grin, “Well?”

Grace looked at the table, “There’s a...man.”

The teenager’s eyebrows arched, “Ah, older than you.” _Much older. Super old. I’m not even exaggerating._

She continued, “I guess I can say that I’m most comfortable talking to him compared to the other guys in Jackson.” It was nothing. She can’t possible like him in that way. He’s old enough to be her father.

Ellie shrugged her shoulders as she teased, “Whatever you say, Grace.”

“Hey!” She playfully narrowed her eyes at her before crossing her arms in front of her, “This conversation is supposed to be about helping you with your love life. Not mine.”

Ellie stood up as she shrugged, “You helped already. So, who’s the guy, I mean, man?” _No way in hell because you’re his daughter technically._

Grace shook her head, “I’m not gonna tell you. He’s just a friend.”

Ellie mockingly nodded at her as she walked backwards, “Right, right, friend. That’s where mine started, too. And now, here I am.”

Grace’s eyes widened in realization, “Wait, is it—“

“Cat, yeah.” _I fucking knew it._

Before she could say something, Ellie already opened the doors in order to leave. Maybe it was a wise decision since she would most likely tease her about it.

Grace shook her head again before chuckling under her breath. She glanced at the wall clock and saw that it was almost 5 in the afternoon. She has more time to spare.

Instead of chasing Ellie, she decided to pull out the book she was reading earlier from her back and opened it once again to know about the love story of two fictional characters, making her forget about the fact she may or may not have just realized she probably has feelings for Joel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to tell me your opinions!! :)


	15. Ollie’s Group

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grace went to her usual patrol duty with Ollie’s group. They stumbled upon a big cabin and killed a horde of infected. She got to talk with some of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for not being able to upload a chapter last Monday. I was really tired that time so I decided to sleep for that day. Anyways, here’s another chapter!

**SUMMER, JUNE 2036**

“Kotaro, how many infected can you see?”

“Less than 20, I think.”

“They are spreaded out as well, Ollie.”

“Okay, Luca. You think you can shoot them with your bow and arrow from here, Raven?”

“Hmm, without drawing attention, no.”

Grace joined the four men looking down on a cabin. She stood up between Kotaro and Luca. She looked down as well to look at the horde of infected. _15 runners and 3 clickers._

“You got plan, Grace?” She heard Ollie asking her.

She looked down at the small cliff beneath them, “Kotaro, Luca and I can go down and try to kill as many infected as we can. You and Raven will follow us far behind to start shooting in case something happens.”

Ollie hummed at this before turning to his group, “What do you think?”

Raven nodded as he prepared his bow and arrow. Luca pulled out a knife hiding on his waist. Kotaro told him, “We got this, Dad.”

Ollie nodded at them, “Okay, then. Be careful.”

Grace went down first the cliff, followed by Kotaro then Luca. They walked slowly with their knives out. She immediately headed towards the clicker and proceeded on sticking a knife on its head. She pulled two knives from her thighs and threw it on her right side towards the runners’ head. The infected immediately fell on the ground with a thud.

She saw a clicker running towards her in the corner of her eyes so she pulled out the knife from the previous clicker and stabbed the incoming clicker on the head.

In her left, she heard a loud thud. She looked over to see Kotaro withdrawing his knife from the runner on the ground. He looked up at her and smiled. She let out a quick smile before running towards the last clicker which was located right in front of the cabin.

Whenever runners were blocking her way, she would bring out knives and stabbed their heads. Before reaching the clicker, she remembered that she counted over five runners.

After killing the last clicker, Luca laughed faintly behind her before patting her shoulder, “Man, you killed a lot again. I only killed three.”

“Same here,” Kotaro waved his hand before grabbing the rag from his father’s hand.

Ollie put his hands on his hips, “Raven and I only killed one each.” Raven looked at them after retrieving the arrow from one of the runners’ head.

Grace awkwardly smiled at them, “Sorry, I guess?” The four men laughed at her.

Ollie walked towards the cabin, followed by Luca and Raven. They scouted the surroundings first. When they were sure that the place was empty, they opened it.

Grace can tell that the cabin they found was in a better shape because of their reaction. Luca whistled, Raven’s eyes widened while Ollie grinned.

Kotaro’s father turned around to look at the remaining two standing in a pile of infected before saying, “Rest time, people.”  


* * *

  
The five of them ate a good dinner after seeing a lot of canned goods still intact. Luca tried to get the generator working but it was out of gas. But that’s fine since there was a fireplace. They were lucky that they didn’t need to chop more wood because they were hidden at the basement.

Grace was standing by the sink. With her rag, she tried to remove the blood off of her race as well her clothes. She tried to wash them off by the spare water she brought with her. She successfully cleaned her face but her clothes were still dirty. _At least I tried._

She returned back to the living room. The place was actually spacious. There were five couches. They decided to surround it by the fireplace since it was strangely a cold night. Too cold for summer season.

She saw Kotaro sleeping on one of the couches. Ollie was scouting outside the cabin. Raven was fixing his gear on his couch.

Grace sat on one of the empty couches and leaned back. She almost moaned out because of how her body melted right away when her back came in contact with the couch. She closed her eyes for a while before gazing at the fireplace to listen to the crackling of the flame.

About a week after Ellie’s birthday, Grace decided to request to Tommy to include her in Ollie’s group. He asked her for the reason. Grace said that she thought she’s ready to go with groups and it’s reasonable that she’ll go to a group that she knows the most. Tommy didn’t want it at first since he was planning to pair her with Joel.

She sighed before closing her eyes. _I remembered restraining myself from begging Tommy to not pair me with his big brother. Ever since that conversation with Ellie... what the fuck is wrong with me?_

She opened her eyes when she felt the couch dipped. “Hey.”

“Hey, Raven.” Her eyes widened for a bit because Raven was the silent one among the group. He rarely speaks with anyone in general unless it was needed.

“You need something?”

He leaned forward after putting his arms on his thighs. “I want to thank you for being a great friend to Esther.”

She chuckled slightly, “I should be the one who’s thankful for having a friend like her. You’re lucky to have her as your girlfriend.”

This statement made Raven smile, “Can’t argue with that.”

They sat in silence once again, only staring and listening at the flame.

Grace felt Raven still has something to say so she asked him, “You alright?”

Raven opened his mouth to speak but Luca interrupted him as he sat on the armrest of couch before wrapping an arm around his shoulders, “Raven needs help with sex. You think you can help him?”

Grace tensed up at this before looking back and forth at the two men, “Uh... well, I— I never did it nor think about it actually. Sorry.”

Luca laughed, “Wait, you never thought of sex?”

_God, this is awkward._

“No,” she firmly shook her head.

The bald haired man wiped tears of joy from his eyes before calming down, “Man, I can’t blame you. But it’s good—“

“Grace is too young, Luca, and I’m not talking to her just because I need help with sex,” Raven cut him off while glaring at his friend.

Luca scoffed, “Grace is only 5 years younger than me, Rave.” He leaned closer to him and smirked, “You don’t need help with sex because you’re good at it, is that it?”

Grace swore that she saw a slight blush on Raven’s face. It’s probably a blush or just the reflection of the flame on his face.

“I— You know what, nevermind.”

Luca laughed softly at this since Kotaro was sleeping. He stood up before walking towards Grace to ruffle her hair.

She removed his hand before playfully glaring at him, “Be thankful you’re my friend or else I would’ve chop your hand just now.”

This made him chuckle, “I am thankful, then. You should sleep, by the way. Need to go back to Jackson before sunrise.” He stretched his arms in the air before going to his own couch and lie down. Within a few minutes, he fell asleep.

“I was just about to ask you about Esther’s schedule next week since she told me that it would change. I thought I could surprise her.” Raven blurted out of nowhere.

“Sure, I can tell you.” Grade thought that this was a sweet gesture. She realized that Raven and Esther are a perfect fit for each other.

After thanking her for telling him her schedule, “Luca’s right,” Raven stood up. “You should get some sleep. Tomorrow’s a big day for someone who has a birthday like you.” He gave her one last smile before going back to his couch as well and sleep.

Grace was frozen in her spot. They were right. Tomorrow is her birthday. It didn’t come across her mind. She chuckled at this. _They know my birthday better than I do._

The door opened, revealing Ollie. He smiled and waved at her before going to his couch to sit. He put his backpack on the floor before leaning back. “No infected.”

Grace nodded at this before staring back at the fireplace again.

“Hey, uh, Grace? Can I ask you something?”

She turned to her right to look at the leader of the group. “Sure. What is it?”

Ollie looked at his son briefly before back at her, “What do you think of Kotaro?”

_That’s a strange question._

She turned to her left to look at the sleeping guy. She looked back at Ollie, “He’s resourceful and resilient. Pretty brave as well. Doesn’t look like has a backbone at first but he’s definitely a tough cookie.”

Ollie continued to look at her as if he was analyzing her. She looked at him back with confusion. “Why did you ask?”

He shook his head before letting out a sad smile, “Ah, poor son. He doesn’t know that his crush doesn’t like him back.”

“I’m sorry?”

He looked at her with an apologetic smile this time, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed but Kotaro has a crush on you for months now.”

_Oh._

Her eyes widened, “Well, I’ve been hinting some but, I didn’t actually know. I’m so—“

He waved his hand off as if he wants to her to ignore what he just said, “Don’t be sorry, Grace. It’s normal for someone to have a crush and to not have their feelings reciprocated.”

“I’m still sorry though.”

“You don’t have to be. You can’t force yourself to like someone.”

Silence enveloped them as Grace tried to think of things she could say. But she got nothing, of course.

“So, who is it?”

She looked at Ollie with a questioning expression on her face.

He continued, “Is it Luca?” _Oh, he’s talking about the uh... me crushing on someone._

She cringed, “Older, actually.” She realized that she kinda confessed already that she had feelings for him so she spoke up quickly, “I mean, I’m still confused.”

Ollie nodded in understanding, “That’s fine. I won’t press you to it. Not gonna tell anyone.”

She smiled kindly at him, “Thanks.”

The leader of the group was about to lie down when he sat up straightly once again, “Oh! I almost forgot! Joel was looking for you earlier this morning.”

_Aah, great. Joel. Just the man I’m trying to avoid._

She tried her best to be stoic about this, “Oh yeah? What did he say?”

“He went to Tommy’s house. I was there because his little brother is giving orders for today’s patrol duty. He asked him if he still training you with the guns. Tommy told him that you’ve stopped for a long time now. Then, he just nodded and left.”

That’s weird. “Seems like he needs something from me.”

Ollie agreed, “Yeah, you should ask him about it when we get back.”

“I will. Thanks, Ollie.”

As he lied down, he asked her, “You taking the first watch?”

She nodded.

“Well, just wake us up when you’re feeling sleepy or something, okay?”

“Okay.” And with that, Ollie fell asleep.

Grace thought this would be the great time to think about her thoughts about Joel. _I think I won’t be able to sleep well this time._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to tell me your opinions!! :))


	16. Part of the Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s Grace’s 22nd Birthday! She hangs out with Joel and Ellie by the end of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I’m really sorry for not being able to update for a long time. I might change the schedule this time since I’m getting more busy in the following weeks because of school. But anyways, here’s another chapter. Enjoy reading!

Grace was right. She didn’t get enough sleep last night. She was tossing back and forth in her couch as she listened to the fire crackling in the fireplace. She eventually fell asleep but it only lasted for two hours.

When they arrived in Jackson, her friends noticed she was rather sleepy. They greeted her a happy birthday before leading her to her house. They told her to sleep. Since the sun wasn’t in the sky yet, she decided to take the time to sleep. She thanked them before going straight to her bed to sleep.

She woke up then looked at the wall clock hanging up against the wall. “1 in the afternoon? No wonder I’m so hungry.”

She stood up from her bed and went straight to the bathroom to take a bath. After that, she went to her closet to get some clothes. She wore a shirt which have sleeves that reach her elbows and a pair of shorts. Days ago, Tommy told her that she wouldn’t be working in her birthday so it was okay to wear casual clothing.

Grace went downstairs, only to find a paper on the floor in front of her front door. She grabbed it and read out loud, “Come to Joel’s house after you wake up —Tommy.”

She folded the paper and put it on the small table placed near the front door. She opened the door and made her way to Joel’s house.  


* * *

  
“Happy Birthday, Grace!”

“Thanks, guys!” She said for probably about 10 times today.

When she entered Joel’s house, people greeted her a happy birthday. She saw Joel, Ellie, Tommy, Maria, Ollie, Kotaro, Luca, Raven, Esther, Dina, Jesse and Cat. All of her friends were present.

It turned out they have been planning a party for her since yesterday. The party was great and she can’t help but smile throughout the day. She had friends back in her previous community and they also prepared birthday for her. But this was something more special. Maybe because she truly felt she was connected with her friends.

The party only lasted for three hours since Joel told (more like whisper) to her that he and Ellie have a surprise for her. And in order for her to see the surprise, she has to come with them.

Now, she was walking behind Joel and Ellie as they guided her to her surprise. Ellie was keeping her busy for the most of the time by telling her Joel brought her here last year for her birthday as well. Grace wanted to ask why they would show it to her since it was like a special place for only the two of them. But she couldn’t bring herself to ask since Ellie kept on talking.

She didn’t mind the teenager talking all day long since it gave her another reason to avoid Joel as much as possible.

“Let’s swim here,” Joel called out on them before jumping to the river. Ellie and Grace followed his lead.

Grace almost moaned in delight. This was her first time swimming with no worries of dealing with the infected. The peacefulness weirded her out at first but it eventually became a happy thing for her.

They went up on the shore, walking deeper to the woods. Joel and Ellie stopped walking, telling her to go ahead. Grace immediately ran and gasped at what she saw. “Holy— it’s a dinosaur!”

It was a very big dinosaur—of course, made up of skeletons only. Ellie ran up beside her and said, “I was surprised too when I saw this! My first guess turned out to be right.”

Joel chuckled, “I hope you won’t do the same thing what Ellie did to that.” Grace sent a questioning look at the teenager who just grinned at her.

She leaned in and whispered, “I jumped from the top.”

Grace became excited, her barriers finally destroyed. She decided to show how happy she is to these two. So, she ran towards the tail of the dinosaur and began to work on her way to the top with Joel saying, “Good Lord, not again.”

Reaching the very top, Grace somehow felt a vertigo. She felt a mild headache but she shook her head as she looked at Ellie who was on the ground.

“Ellie! Do you know how to do a backflip?”

“A backflip? What’s tha—“

“Grace, don’t give her ideas!”

Grace laughed, “You’re just jealous because you’re old, Joel.” Her comment made Ellie laugh until she was holding her stomach. Joel shook his head before looking up at her once again.

Grace turned around and braced herself before doing a backflip. She felt the air consumed her body. In just a few seconds, the water hugged her before she swam to the surface. She was greeted by Ellie’s excitement and Joel’s anxiety.

“That was so cool!”

She walked towards them before smiling at Ellie, “I can teach you if you want.”

She felt a light punch on her back. She looked over to see Joel pulling his hand back to his side as he looked at her with a playful glare, “I said, don’t give her ideas.”

She smirked, “And I said,” she walked towards him before reaching for his hair to ruffle it as if he was a child, “You’re just jealous.”

Joel grabbed her hand gently and put it down. He removed his hand from hers, “Whatever you say, girl.”

She was about to say something back to him when Ellie’s voice broke out, “Come on, Grace! There’s more surprises for you on that way.” The three of them then ran to the said direction.  


* * *

  
The surprise turned out to be a tour in an abandoned museum. In the first floor, more dinosaurs can be seen. Grace was surprised on how much information Ellie knows regarding the dinosaurs. Joel later on explained that Ellie got obsessed with dinosaurs so she started to read more about them ever since. Grace was fascinated to know that her friend is turning into an intellectual.

In the second floor, a space museum was located. Grace tried to spin the planets and the moon as well as Ellie told her every history she knows about space. She told her that she would like to be an astronaut someday. This pained Grace’s heart for a bit since Ellie’s dream seems impossible in the state they are now. _But maybe in our next life, you’ll be an astronaut._

She found a door opened on the other side. She went there and saw the bridge was cut off. The only way to get to the other place was through swimming. “Have you check there?”

Ellie’s eyes widened as if she remembered something before grabbing her ongoing tattooed arm. Joel shifted his eyes nervously at her before going back at Grace. He cleared his throat, “Uh, we did but there’s nothing inside.”

Grace can see that the two of them were hiding something. She was curious but she respected them. She simply smiled at them and went to Ellie to cheer her up.

She pushed her, just enough to stumble her. Ellie was surprised but she smiled after Grace told her that she would like to play tag with her.

“I’m too old for that, Grace.”

“Ah, playing the adult card on me now?”

“Wha— No! I—“

Grace laughed before waving her hand to tell her it was okay. “I totally understand what you feel.”

“Ahem! What should I do then?”

“Joel, you’re old like a dinosaur. Just find a bench or chair and sit on it.”

“Ellie, seriously?”

Grace didn’t let them finish their conversation as she put a hand on Ellie’s shoulder swiftly, “You’re it.” She then ran away with Ellie running behind her.

Joel shook his head as he sat down on the bench on the middle of the room. He watched them play tag like children. He was worried that Ellie might be distant once again when they were asked about the other place. But it looks like everything is fine. It’s Grace’s birthday and he doesn’t want his mood to be ruined by remembering the lie he told Ellie years ago.  


* * *

  
“You know I can carry her, right?”

“Yep, but I can do this.”

“Hmm, I’m just being a gentleman, Grace.” 

She bit her tongue, afraid she would laugh loudly and Ellie would wake up behind her. They played tag for hours until they the sky was replaced by night. Ellie became really tired so Grace gave her a piggyback ride and let her sleep.

They were heading towards the horses they left next to the river. They were almost there. Grace looked up to see the stars brightening up the dark sky.

She didn’t notice Joel’s eyes on her as he nervously filled with something in his hands. Thinking of something to tease him, she looked over at him but she remained quiet when she saw the look on his face. “Everything alright, Joel?”

“Yeah, I just,” he walked closer to her before opening his right hand to show something to her. “Got something for you. Happy Birthday, Grace.”

She looked at the blue thin hairclip, “Where did you find this?”

He scratched the back of his neck, “I found this weeks ago when I was in patrol. It was in a woman’s drawer. I thought you’d like having these so it can at least remove the hair off your face. Ya know, so you can see better.”

Grace can see how nervous Joel was as he mumbled that it was okay if she didn’t like it. She chuckled softly, “I would like that.” It was time for a change. Revealing her whole face in a daily basis to many people would be a start.

Joel smiled, “Let me just, put it on you.” He tucked her hair behind her ear before putting her hairclip so it can prevent her hair from falling on her face again. He can see how beautiful Grace was. _Why were you hiding your face from world, girl?_

Grace felt weird to see both of her eyes are seeing the same view, “How do I look, old man?”

“Amazing. I bet suitors would line up on your house pretty much soon.”

“Ha! Suitors, my ass. Don’t need those,” she continued walking with a fast beating heart. She can’t deny she felt like she was electrocuted when Joel’s fingers grazed her skin. She would like to forget about it since it was tempting her to avoid Joel again.

She stopped walking and turned around to look at him, “Thank you.”

He nodded before smiling appreciatively on her, “No problem. You’re part of the family now, Grace.”

She felt her heart melts in his words. _Part of a family? That’s not bad at all._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to tell me your opinions! :)


	17. Trading Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy assigns Joel and Grace to go to the nearest city to trade with bullets and clothes since they were running out already. Grace prepares a surprise for Joel.

**AUTUMN, SEPTEMBER 2036**

Grace entered inside Tommy's house to find him and Joel standing in the kitchen. She walked towards them before sending a smile on Joel. She looked at Tommy who was looking on a map on the table. "You called us, Tommy?" 

"Yeah," he nodded before placing his hands on the table as he looked at the two of them. "We're still getting supplies from new places but they aren't enough. We need to go to the city and trade stuff for bullets and clothes in preparation for winter." 

"And you called us to send us there?" 

Tommy nodded, "As much as I want to go, I can't. I need to search the area and clear out infected. Maria needs my help as well with the rations." 

"That's fine, I can go," Grace said before looking at Joel who was staring at the map with a blank expression. 

"Joel, you do understand that we need to do this, right?" Tommy sighed before sending a concerned look on his older brother. 

He nodded slowly before looking back at his younger brother, "Yeah, I know." 

Grace knows Tommy was talking about something that bothers Joel. It probably happened in the past. She looked at Joel and saw the sad look on his face. _What happened, Joel?_

Tommy then gave the map to Joel, "You go get the horses. I'll talk with Grace more regarding the city." Joel nodded one last time before grabbing his backpack from the floor and putting it on. He left the house. 

"So, what about the city?" 

Tommy walked towards her before sitting down on the table beside her, "It's a quarantine place actually. Guarded by soldiers and all. Travelers and representatives from other settlements go there for supplies or a place to stay for a night." 

Grace froze in her spot as she placed her hand on the back of her neck which she hadn't done for months now, "Quarantine?" 

He chuckled, "They call it that way so people will think it's the safest place in the country. They don't have these detectors to see if you're infected or not." 

Grace sighed in relief. She didn't want to reveal her secret to anyone. Not yet, anyways. 

"Nice hairclip, by the way." 

"Oh!" She touched it with her hand before smiling at Tommy, "Joel gave it to me in my birthday. He was right when he said I can see better now that my hair is not covering my face." 

Tommy looked away with a knowing look on his face before smiling back at her, "Well, Joel picked the right hairclip then. It suits you." 

If Grace saw his face, she would've asked him about it. But she didn't so she said, "Thanks." 

Tommy then frown before looking at the door. She waited for him to speak up. "Hey, sorry about Joel earlier. It's just... it's his birthday today and-" 

"-his daughter died next day." Grace finished his statement. Everything seems clear now. Joel was acting weird because he was uncomfortable with his birthday. It only made him remember about his daughter, Sarah. He never really removed the watch. 

Tommy narrowed his eyes on her, "How did you know?" 

"Joel told me back in the barbecue party."

"I see." What Tommy's actually thinking was he's confused on why would his older brother tell his past to someone he barely knows. Yes, Joel is a changed man since he and Ellie settled in Jackson. But he never opened up his past to anyone. The only ones who know this were him, Ellie and Maria. _By the barbecue party, we only met Grace for like 2 weeks only. I have to talk to Joel about this._

Tommy told her the last instructions for the trade in the city before letting her leave to follow Joel by the stables. 

  


* * *

  


"So, this is the place?" 

"Yep. This is the place." 

Grace and Joel stood in front of set of large buildings. They were blocked by metal gates with their horses by their sides. It took five hours for them to arrived in the city. They took a break, of course. But there were only short breaks since they have a lot to cover in the big city. 

A soldier went up to them with a gun on his hands. He looked at Grace first before at Joel. Recognition filled his face, "Ah, it's you. Joel, right?" 

Joel only nodded at him firmly. Grace sent a quick concerned look on him. 

On their way here, Joel was quiet for the whole time. He only talked to her when they have to fight infected and to tell her that they will take a break. She was trying her best not to acknowledge it by thinking something else. She hoped that there was a repair shop in the city. 

The soldier looked at Grace from head to toe, "She's with you?" Joel nodded again. 

The soldier opened the metal gates to let them enter, "I'll be taking your horses now." He grabbed the ropes before looking back at the pair, "How long are you gonna stay here?" 

Joel finally spoke up, "Just for a night. We'll leave by morning." The soldier nodded at them before the pair entered the city. 

Since Joel knows the place better than Grace, she followed him. They followed Tommy's instructions. First, they looked for an apartment that has two beds. Good thing this wasn't the first time Jackson traded in the city so they don't have to look for a good apartment anymore. The owner knows Joel so he simply let them in and gave them the best room. 

Grace sat down on her bed before reading the piece of paper she wrote where Tommy's instructions were written. The next thing they would do is trade. In order to finish all of the trades by the end of the day, Joel and Grace decided to split up. Joel will handle the bullets while Grace will focus on the clothes. It was already two in the afternoon, meaning they only have four hours left to get everything before dinner.

She looked at the other side of the bed where Joel's things were scattered. She walked towards it before looking at the bathroom door. She quietly grabbed his watch before putting it in her pocket. _Thank God, he's in the showers._

"Hey, Joel? I'll head out now, okay?" 

“Get back here before six.”

“Okay.” And with that, she grabbed her backpack and two duffel bags before heading out their apartment.

  


* * *

  


“Let’s see,” Grace looked around the crowded street before spotting what she was looking. She walked towards the mini shop situated beside a lamp post.

A man wearing a clean black shirt was standing behind the counter. He greeted her after she walked towards him, “Hello! Can I help you?”

Grace put the duffel bags on the floor before pulling out Joel’s watch. She placed it on the counter, “Can you fix this for me?” 

The man inspected it for a few seconds before looking at her, “I think so. I need to change some things, though. When do you need it?” 

“I need it as soon as possible. It’s for my friend because it’s his birthday today.” 

The man smiled at her, “Well, it’s your lucky day. I’ll fix it as soon as possible. What will you trade for this?” 

Grace put her backpack beside Joel’s watch on the counter. She opened it and showed the backpack to the man. “I got a lot of bullets, knives and rags.” 

”We have a deal, then.”

  


* * *

  


“Where the fuck is she?” Joel asked to no one for the tenth time. He expected for Grace to come back about an hour later her departure. But when he came back, she wasn’t there.

He knew Grace stole his watch. He was sure he only put it on his bed before taking a shower. When he came back, the watch one was gone. It was impossible for them to be robbed since the door was locked when she left. The windows have locks. 

”But why would she steal it?”

His watch has no value now since it was broken. She can’t trade it to anyone unless someone was so desperate to have something like that.

Joel ran a hand across his face. He couldn’t believe Grace was going to pull on something like this. She didn’t appear to be the one to steal. Maybe she was sick of Jackson and decided to live an independent life again?

But that’s impossible. She has friends in the community and everyone likes her. So, why would she do it then?

_Did I do something bad to her?_

Before Joel could dig deeper to his dark thoughts, the door opened, revealing Grace carrying two duffel bags and a backpack. When she closed the door behind her and put the bags on the ground, Joel walked towards her.

”Where is my watch, Grace?”

Grace can clearly see he was pissed so she raised her hands, “Joel, I can explain.”

Joel wanted to shout at her. He wants to scold her for stealing it. He wants to scold her for stealing something precious to him. He wants to scold her for making him trust her. But he shut his mouth as he watched her pull out something from her backpack.

His eyes widened, “How—“

Grace gave him his watch which is now fixed. She scratched her neck, “I— Uh, Tommy told me it’s your birthday today. I found out that there’s a repair shop in here so there. I’m sorry for stealing it.”

Joel wore it around his wrist before asking her, “What did you trade for it?”

”Just a couple of bullets, some knives and rags. I— I hope you like it even though you don’t actually acknowledge your birthday.” Grace shyly looked away. She wasn’t really ready on revealing what she did to Joel. She thought it was the nicest thing she can do for him and to somehow show him how thankful she was for him.

Joel felt tears building up in his eyes but he quickly recovered from it by coughing and closing his eyes. When he calmed down, he smiled up at the woman in front of him, “Thank you, Grace.”

Grace grinned at him, feeling happier after seeing his face, “Happy birthday, Joel.”

With a plan in his mind, he grabbed his backpack filled with boxes of bullets. He walked towards the door, “Come on, let’s go get dinner.”

She looked at him with confused expression, “But I thought we’ll just wait for your friend down there to give us food?”

He shrugged, “I thought we can eat in a diner and get a little bit tipsy.”

Grace couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She walked up to him, “We need something to trade if we’re going to eat.”

”We can get use the bullets. I’m sure Tommy won’t mind me using some for my birthday.”

Her eyes widened as she realized Joel acknowledged his birthday. She thought it would be hard since Ellie’s not here but he was doing okay somehow.

Grace and Joel walked in the city streets, not minding the number of people filling the streets. They joked around and told stories before finally arriving to a diner.

In the middle of their dinner, he apologized for his behavior back in the apartment. She assured him that his actions were justified so he had nothing to be sorry for. Joel realized Grace was more matured than anyone in her age.

Joel felt like Grace wasn’t someone who was way younger than him. She knew how to talk to people like him and make them comfortable. He really enjoyed the night even though he wished Ellie was with them.

_Maybe we can go back someday and eat here with Ellie._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to tell me your opinions!! :)


	18. The Distant Ellie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grace spends her time with Tommy in the ski lodge while Joel and Ellie are in the music store. What happens next is unexpected for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the 2000+ people who've read this story. Thank you for the love and support. Thank you for waiting patiently for the updates. School is starting pretty much soon so expect slow updates. But don't worry, I'll do my best to publish new chapters as much as I can every week. Thank you to all again!!

**AUTUMN, OCTOBER 2036**

Grace was lying on her back on the couch by the fireplace. She had her eyes close as she listened to Joel's footsteps, walking around the ski lodge. They were waiting for Tommy and Ellie since they promised that they'll take Ellie out for her training.

Tommy decided to lower the age requirement for group patrols. There were teenagers who volunteered to be a part of the patrol. Tommy and Maria didn't have any choice but to allow them. Teenagers like Ellie are only allowed for group patrols for now. When they became 18, Tommy will allow them to be in paired patrols if they want. No one usually go out for solo patrol except for the who are really capable of themselves like Grace, Joel and Tommy.

The Miller brothers decided to train her and spend time with her. Grace was dragged with them since she had nothing to do. After bringing a lot of supplies for hidden places, she was given a 2 day off by Maria. Grace didn't accept it at first but the whole community insisted so she had no choice.

She heard Joel sat down followed by plucking the worn out strings from Ellie's guitar. She cringed at the awful sound. She heard him groaned, "This needs new strings."

"I think I saw a music store somewhere around us," she opened her eyes as she sat up straight. She looked at her left to see Joel staring at her with an apologetic look on his face.

"Sorry for waking you up from your beauty sleep."

She chuckled, "I don't need beauty sleep, Joel."

He sent her a sly grin as he picked up Ellie's guitar to his lap, "Right, right. Because you're beautiful already."

She groaned as she lied down again. She closed her eyes as Joel laughed. Joel knew Grace can't handle compliments. Her face would turn into a complexed expression as if she doesn't know what to do. She would stutter and end up saying embarrassing things. Ever since Joel found out about this side of her, he never stopped teasing her by showering her with compliments.

In Grace's part, she would feel flattered every time someone compliments her. But with Joel, it was worse. Ever since that day with Ellie in the library, she would occasionally imagine Joel with her. Just showing his casual smile on her. She knew she was having a crush on the older man. After five months of denying it, she finally gave in. She thought it wouldn't harm anyone if she secretly has a crush on him. But then, Joel started complimenting her to tease her and she can't help but get flustered about it. Sometimes, she wanted to ask if he actually meant what he said. But she was too shy to do it. _I wish you will stop complimenting me so I won't have a crush on you anymore._

Her thoughts were cut off when she heard gunshots not too far from there. She stood up straight, drawing her knife from her coat. She looked at Joel with alerted eyes who looked at her at the same way. The pair waited for screams or any indication that there were in danger. But nothing came out.

"Might be Tommy and Ellie," Joel assured her, looking at the knife in her hand. She hid her knife before drawing out her gun instead. _Better be ready._

She sighed in relief after seeing Tommy and Ellie walking towards the entrance of the ski lodge. She put her gun back in the holster. Joel asked them, "That was y'all shootin' out there, right?"

Tommy shrugged, "Oh, just some stragglers." He pointed at Ellie who was sitting down on a chair, "Ellie got to try out my scope." He sat down beside her.

Joel looked at her as Grace walked towards the teenager, "How'd you like it?"

Ellie nodded, "Yeah. It feels good."

Tommy put his feet on top of the table. Grace narrowed her eyes on him as she walked towards him to swat his legs away. Instead of following her, he pulled out his tongue as if he was a child. Grace groaned at the sight of this as she walked towards the counter to lean her back on it with Joel sitting on a stool on her right. The three people laughed at her reaction.

When the laughter died down, Joel rotated Ellie's guitar to analyze it, "I see you've, uh... you haven't gotten around to changing the strings yet." He stood up to walk towards her.

Ellie gave him a confused look before awkwardly chuckling, "I didn't know I was supposed to." Grace mentally cringed at this. She noticed that Ellie appeared a little bit more distant with Joel for the last couple of months. Maybe it was because she's just a teenager. And teenagers tend to be rebellious sometimes. But that wouldn't change the fact that she was worried about their relationship.

"Yeah, you, uh... We'll get you some new ones," Joel said to her. Grace looked over at Tommy who was still relaxing in his seat. _Can't he sense the tension between them?_

When Joel put down the guitar, Tommy grabbed it in his hands, "There's that music store down there." He put his legs on top of the table once again. "I bet they got guitar stuff."

Tommy looked at Ellie and Joel back and forth before settling on the teenager, “I mean, that area’s long overdue for a sweep anyway.”

Joel and Ellie stared at each other as if they were contemplating. Tommy assured them, “Grace and I can keep watch.”

Grace nodded in agreement as the pair looked at her with a questionable look on her face, “Go on.”

Joel asked Ellie, “What do you say, kiddo?”

“Sure.” Grace narrowed her eyes at the teenager. She wasn’t imagining the tension and distant earlier. She was sure that the teenager was getting more distant now. She decided not to say anything.

Tommy then started to play the guitar which made her groan. The blonde haired man laughed at her.

Joel sent a grin at Ellie as the two of them stood up, “And that’s our cue.” The pair exited the ski lodge.

Grace sat down on the stool where Joel was sitting on earlier. When Tommy plucked the strings again, she glared at him, "Stop it, Tommy. It's really annoying."

Tommy laughed before placing the guitar on the table. He glanced at her before asking gently, "You okay? You've been grumpy and silent this entire time."

She looked around the ski lodge, thinking if she should open up to the blonde haired man. She sighed, knowing she has no choice. He deserves to know since he's Ellie's adoptive uncle. "How's Ellie these days?"

His face turned into a confused expression, "Well, she's alright. One of the best shooters, I would say. Jesse wants her to start with paired patrols but I won't allow that because of the rules."

Grace knows that already since she was there to teach the teenagers. She taught them how to survive by using knives or any sharp objects they could find. She can say that Ellie is one of the best as well in terms of knife handling. Maybe it's because she's the only one who had experience surviving outside.

"I know that. What I mean is..."

Tommy waited patiently for her to speak. He removed his legs from the table to tell her silently that he's being serious.

"Is it just me or Ellie has been distant with Joel these past couple of months?"

Tommy uncomfortably leaned back on his chair as he crossed his arms in front of him. He was having a debate on himself if he should tell Grace everything. But he promised Joel that no one will know about Ellie's secret. He thought of his next words carefully before saying, "So, you noticed, huh?"

She nodded, "Did something happen?"

The blonde haired man shifted his eyes away from the woman as he lied, "Joel and I talked about it. We think it's just the effect of puberty or something like that."

Grace considered his point. When she was in Ellie's age, she became distant from her brother and started to hang out all by herself. It gave her a chance to think about their father's death years ago. She matured by that time so she thought she should bring it up again. And for a long time of being distant, she decided that it was about time to let her brother know the truth regarding their father's death. But when she came back to their community after exploring a hospital, she found out that her brother was already dead. It was too late. Her brother died not knowing the truth.

"I just wish she will be close to Joel again before everything's too late."

Tommy looked at her and saw the grim expression on her face. He can see the pain coursing on her looks. He can't help but be sad as well. He believes that Grace has gone through hell. He didn't say anything, letting her words sink in. Honestly, he and Joel were afraid that Ellie might've suspected something. Or maybe she knew all along but her patience was running thin already.

The two sat in silence in the ski lodge as they waited for their companions. Not for long, Joel and Ellie finally arrived.

Grace looked at them and noticed how Ellie appeared more distant than before. She felt chills in her spine. Tommy noticed the tension between the two. He spoke up first, "Everything alright out there?"

Ellie didn't say anything as she crossed her arms in front of her while standing by the entrance. Joel looked at her first before answering his brother, "We found the couple that ran away last week. Both are dead."

Grace ran her hands on her face before dropping them on her knees, "Adam and Sidney." Before they left, they came up to her to teach them more. Grace was weirded out at first but helped them anyways. If only she knew they would run away the day after, she would've taught them everything.

Tommy slowly stood up, "You have any idea how they died?"

Joel nodded, "In an hour, they caught up with a horde. They got bit. Adam shot Sidney first so she won't turn. He wasn't able to shoot himself."

A moment of silence enveloped the four people. Grace didn't notice Tommy walking up to her until she felt his hand on her shoulder, "Hmm?"

"I uh said we should go and bring their bodies to Jackson." She stood up and walked up behind him.

They rode their horses and went out to get the couple's dead bodies. As they were traveling, Grace walked up first at Ellie to check up on her. The teenager was either ignoring her or giving her a blank answer. It hurt Grace because Ellie never acted like this towards her. On their way back to Jackson, Grace tried to talk to Joel who ignored her as well. She felt shitty because of their attitude. She thought she was a family to them since they practically welcomed her. With an idea in her head, she planned to go to Tommy's house to talk to him.  


* * *

  
"Hey, Tommy."

"Hey, Grace," Tommy greeted back to the woman standing in front of him. As soon as they came arrive in Jackson, they dug up graves for the couple. A funeral happened which attended by the families and friends of the dead couple. They were there as well, paying respects. An hour had pass since the funeral ended and he found himself drinking coffee in his kitchen.

She fidgeted with her fingers before taking a deep breath to calm her down, "I want to be a part of the scavenge. I can see I can help the community by getting more supplies from far places."

"Are you sure? Did something happen to you in Jackson?"

"No!" she waved her hands to assure him. "I just really want to help." Of course, she wouldn't admit that she wants to scavenge just because she wasn't feeling like she was home at all in the community. She thought she should've go out more to have an alone time. Her stay in Jackson made her dependent on others. Now that they were distancing themselves, she can't help but think that leaving for a while will help her to think on what she should do next.

Tommy scanned her face, "You do know that if you scavenge, you'll have to live outside for a long time."

"Yeah, I know."

He sighed, knowing that he had no choice since he can see the determination on his face, "I'll talk with Maria about it."

"Thanks.' And with that, she left his house with a conflicted mind and heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to tell me your opinion!


	19. Movie Night in Jackson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a month of scavenging, Grace came back with a lot of supplies. The Jackson community decided to celebrate by having a movie night in the abandoned theater they have fixed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I have classes now so the updates will be slower. But don't worry, I'll still write more chapters in my free time. Thank you for your understanding!

**WINTER, DECEMBER 2036**

Grace gently brushed her horse's hair to coo her, "We're here, Skye. Slow down now. Just a few more steps then you can finally rest." Skye lightly neighed in reply as she lead them to the gates of Jackson. Grace pitied her horse for making her carry a lot of things. But Skye showed no weakness as they traveled for about four hours now.

Two days after Grace talked to Tommy about letting her become a part of the scavengers, she went out with Skye. She was with the scavenger team for three weeks before they finally decided to go on their separate ways to gather more supplies. She disappeared for almost two months _It would be weird to see the people in Jackson again._

She took a deep breath before whistling to catch the attention of the people guarding the gates. When they looked over to check up on her, she waved her hands, "It's me, Grace! I'm part of the scavenger team. I just got back."

When the guards recognized her, they opened the entrance gates for her, letting her in. She dismounted Skye to lessen the weight on the horse. She pat her neck lightly to indicate her to walk. The two walked inside the community, catching the people's attention. Grace waved back at the people who were greeting her. She may looked relax on the outside but she was really nervous inside. She wasn't ready to face her friends especially Joel and Ellie. She didn't tell them that she'll disappear for a long time after all.

What appeared to be forever, Grace finally arrived in Tommy's doorstep. She was about to knock on the door when it opened, revealing a surprised Maria. "Hi."

"Grace! You're back!" Maria exclaimed as she grinned. She looked at the horse, getting more surprised. "That's a lot of supplies."

"Yeah, Skye and I stumbled upon an abandoned mall. It turns out they have a basement filled with supplies. All dusty. Must've been abandoned for a long time."

Maria was about to say something when Tommy appeared behind her, "Holy shit! That's a lot of stuff!" He ran towards Skye and started to take away the supplies.

After they took away the supplies, they talked inside the house. Grace found out that there would be an increase on the numbers of patrol people. Many teenagers like Ellie will be 18 next year so they would be in the right age to apply for the position. This means they will need more weapons and bullets. The community was lucky because Grace found a lot of guns and bullets. They didn't have to trade for next year.

"You arrived in the right time. We'll be having a movie night tonight!" Tommy excitingly said to Grace.

"How's that possible? I thought the theater won't be fixed anymore?"

Maria shrugged, "Our engineers thought so, too. But they wanted to try at least. Turns out it was fixable."

Grace smiled at this. Being born in the apocalypse, she never got the chance to watch a movie. She'd been in theaters and even lived in one. It had always been a wonder to her how movies will be played in the huge screen. Her family told her stories regarding the life before the apocalypse. She couldn't help but be excited for tonight's event.

"Is there anything I could help with?"

Maria shook her head, "You've helped enough, Grace. You brought a lot of supplies after all."

Tommy nodded in agreement, "You should go get some rest. You must've missed sleeping on a bed."

_Oh, you have no idea, Tommy._

"I'll see you tonight," Grace told the married couple before leaving their house. She saw that Skye was already being taken to the stables. This means she can now go back to her house and get some sleep. She doesn't want to be caught sleeping halfway to the movie after all.

  


* * *

  


Tucking her hands inside the pockets of her trench coat, Grace inhaled deeply as she glanced at the theater in front of her. The entrance appeared colorful because the lights were finally working. She could not help but be amazed by it. It was more beautiful than ever.

"Grace?"

She froze up in her position. She recognized the voice. She tried to calm her beating heart before turning around to face the man she kept on thinking about when she was far from Jackson. She thought that it was pretty stupid for her to have a crush on someone who is way older than her. Out of all men she could have been attracted to, her heart chose _him_. She tried to remove him from her mind but failed to do so. But she was determined to do everything she can to stop having a crush on him.

Grace showed him a small smile, "Hey, Joel."

Joel's eyes widened and his lips parted slightly in surprise. She can tell that he was surprised to see her. She cannot blame him since she did not tell anyone about her going away from the community for a long time.

He walked towards to her and stopped when there was a little bit of distance from the two of them. He looked at her from head to toe as if he was checking if she had no injuries or whatsoever. He glanced at her eyes, "Where were you, Grace?"

Tommy told her a few hours ago that he told her friends about her disappearance. According to him, they were all shocked. The most affected people by the news were Esther, Ellie, and Joel. Esther became less energetic than usual. Ellie was disappointed. And Joel, who appeared to be calm by the news, was actually hurt deep inside. Tommy can tell by his face that he was greatly affected. _Well, I didn't leave them a note after all. They have every right to feel like that towards me._

Grace answered, "I've been to many places. I joined one of the scavenger teams to look for supplies in even further areas."

She cannot figure out the expression he was giving to her. It appeared to be a mixture of confusion, sadness, and relief. But she can tell that he was thinking a lot of things in his head. He probably has some things to tell her but chose not to do it. Instead, he nodded and told her, "I'm glad you're alright."

"I'm glad you guys are alright as well," she said, attempting to make the tension disappear. But there was no change and awkwardness seeped in. Noticing that he got nothing to say anymore, she nodded before turning around so she can go inside the theater.

"Wait!"

Grace turned around to look at him with a confused expression, "What is it?"

Joel nervously scratched the back of his neck, "When are you leaving again?"

"About next month." Grace decided to tell her friends from now on when she would leave.

Joel's eyes widened for a split second before he looked at the people on his left who were walking towards the door to go inside. "You'll be there in Ellie's birthday, right?" He glanced at her again.

Grace nodded, "Of course, I'll never miss it."

Joel showed her a small smile before looking at the clip attached to her hair. It was the hairclip he gave to her as a birthday present. His smile grew slightly which made Grace blush. She did not want him to see her blushing so she immediately turned around as she said, "I should get going." Not waiting for his response, she walked towards the door and entered inside the theater.

  


* * *

  


Entering inside the theater, her eyes widened as she saw the images flashing to the big screen. It was a video being shown in a big screen. It reached from the floor up to the ceiling. She smiled in amazement as she craned her neck to look at the very top. It was really cool for her.

Thinking that she might ran out of seats, she turned around only to find Ellie standing and already staring at her with the same disbelief look as with Joel on her face. Grace returned the same expression since she was surprised to see her right away. Just like with Joel's encounter, she was not ready for this.

She stuttered, "H-hi, Ellie."

An unexpected thing happen next. After blinking once, Grace felt arms wrapped around her tightly. She noticed that Ellie became taller. She felt bad for not being there to watch her grow into a woman.

"I thought you ran away and died."

Grace tried to lift up the mood, "I'm not gonna die soon, Ellie. You know that I am a tough cookie."

When Ellie pulled away from her embrace, she noticed the glare she was giving her. "Not funny, Grace. You didn't even leave a note! I thought..."

Grace realized how she hurt Ellie. She felt bad for this and wrapped her arms around her instead. "I'm really sorry, Ellie. I'm not gonna leave without telling you ever again." She realized that Ellie was afraid of people leaving her.

As she removed her arms from her body, Ellie asked, "So, you're still leaving?"

"I'm now committed with the scavenger team. Meaning, I will have to go with them every time they leave. So, yes, I am still leaving. But I'll tell you or leave a note from now on."

Ellie nodded as she gave her a small smile, "That's good enough for me." Ellie does not want Grace to leave. She treated her like an older sister which she never had. But she knew that Grace wants to help the community in any way she can. _As long as she'll be extra careful out there and reminds me if she'll leave, then that's good enough for me._

Feeling better now, Ellie invited Grace, "Want to watch the movies with me, Jesse, Dina, and Cat? We can catch up."

Grace wants to ask her if they could watch with Joel instead since he is like Ellie's father. But then, she remembered the reason why she joined the scavenger team in the first place. Joel and Ellie were having problems with each other and Grace wanted to help them. But she obviously cannot because she does not know the problems between them neither do they tell her. She cannot handle the fact that she cannot do anything and so, she joined the scavenger team to remove her thoughts from them.

She can see that the two were still tensed with each other so she pushed the question to the back of her mind. She smiled at the teenager in front of her as she accepted her invitation, "Lead the way, Ellie."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to tell me your opinions!!

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to tell me your opinions! :)


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